Ragtag's Blog

My Future Girlfriend - Part 5

2011-05-05T20:48:00.001-07:00

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In Part 5 of Ragtag Production's 5 part series "My Future Girlfriend," Clark has made his choice, now he's got to figure out how to get the girl. Stars Evan Gaustad, Cheryl Texiera, Kirsten Scoles, Patrick Cohen and Brigitte Hagerman. Written by Steven Tsapelas. Directed by Brian Amyot. Produced by Brian Amyot, Steven Tsapelas, Patrick Cohen, George Tsapelas and Angel Acevedo. From the creators of "We Need Girlfriends." Features original music from Dan Ingala of Plushgun. See more of Ragtag at www.ragtagfilms.net

My Future Girlfriend - Part 4

2011-04-28T20:46:00.001-07:00

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In Part 4 of Ragtag Production's 5 part series "My Future Girlfriend," Clark chooses Lisa over Kelly, and now everyone must come together to save the future. ;Stars Evan Gaustad, Cheryl Texiera, Kirsten Scoles, Patrick Cohen and Brigitte Hagerman. Written by Steven Tsapelas. Directed by Brian Amyot. Produced by Brian Amyot, Steven Tsapelas, Patrick Cohen, George Tsapelas and Angel Acevedo. From the creators of "We Need Girlfriends." Features original music from Dan Ingala of Plushgun. CHECK BACK FOR PART 5 ON May 6th!!!!! www.myfuturegirlfriend.com

My Future Girlfriend - Part III

2011-04-21T20:49:00.001-07:00

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In Part 3 of Ragtag Production's 5 part series "My Future Girlfriend," Clark has a date with destiny...present day Kelly. Stars Evan Gaustad, Cheryl Texiera, Kirsten Scoles, Patrick Cohen and Brigitte Hagerman. Written by Steven Tsapelas. Directed by Brian Amyot. Produced by Brian Amyot, Steven Tsapelas, Patrick Cohen, George Tsapelas and Angel Acevedo. From the creators of "We Need Girlfriends." Features original music from Dan Ingala of Plushgun. CHECK BACK FOR PART 4 ON APRIL 29th!!!!! www.myfuturegirlfriend.com

My Future Girlfriend - Part II

2011-04-15T21:43:00.001-07:00

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In Part 2 of Ragtag Production's 5 part series "My Future Girlfriend," Clark meets Kelly, a beautiful and mysterious girl, who has information about the future. Stars Evan Gaustad, Cheryl Texiera, Kirsten Scoles, Patrick Cohen and Brigitte Hagerman. Written by Steven Tsapelas. Directed by Brian Amyot. Produced by Brian Amyot, Steven Tsapelas, Patrick Cohen, George Tsapelas and Angel Acevedo. From the creators of "We Need Girlfriends." CHECK BACK FOR PART 3 ON APRIL 22ND!!!!! www.myfuturegirlfriend.com

"My Future Girlfriend" Full Trailer

2011-04-11T16:07:00.001-07:00

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The full trailer for Ragtag's new five-part webseries "My Future Girlfriend." Stars Evan Gaustad, Cheryl Texiera, Kirsten Scoles, Patrick Cohen and Brigitte Hagerman.

My Future Girlfriend - Part I

2011-03-31T20:04:00.001-07:00

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In Part 1 of Ragtag Production's 5 part series "My Future Girlfriend," Clark meets Lisa, a beautiful girl with something to hide. Stars Evan Gaustad, Cheryl Texiera, Kirsten Scoles, Patrick Cohen and Brigitte Hagerman. Written by Steven Tsapelas. Directed by Brian Amyot. Produced by Brian Amyot, Steven Tsapelas, Patrick Cohen, George Tsapelas and Angel Acevedo. From the creators of "We Need Girlfriends." CHECK BACK FOR PART 2 ON APRIL 15TH!!!!! www.myfuturegirlfriend.com

FAQ about MFG

2011-03-15T15:01:00.000-07:00

While looking through the questions, comments and emails about our new webseries, "My Future Girlfriend," I've noticed several questions popping up. I will do my best to answer them here...

1) Is this a sequel to "We Need Girlfriends"?

No. The titles are similar and some of the themes are similar (single guy wants girlfriend), but it is completely different from "We Need Girlfriends" and, often times, is in a different genre from "We Need Girlfriends." Yes, Patrick "Tom" Cohen is in this one too, but you'll soon see he plays the opposite of Tom.

2) Why aren't Rod and Henry in this?

Again, this is not a sequel to WNG. At the time we made this, Rod, Henry, Tom and "We Need Girlfriends" were the property of Sony Pictures and CBS, so we legally could not include them in this series. We were also living in North Hollywood which looks very different from Queens, New York.

3) What happened to WNG at CBS?

After a long, long development process, WNG and CBS parted ways. ("Parted ways" is Hollywood speak for "They decided they didn't want to make the show anymore because the guys were too wimpy and not full of tiger blood.")

4) Do you own the rights to WNG again?

If we had an agent, our agent could probably answer that question. Oh, wait, we have an agent. We asked him. He said, "I'll get back to you." It's been a year. If you hear from our agent, please let us know. We at Ragtag are INCREDIBLY worried about him.

5) If you own the rights again, would you do another WNG?

Perhaps. Right now, the three principle actors and the three members of the creative team are all spread across the country. Plus, we all liked how the show ended, and would have to come up with something pretty darn good to want to revisit it. It might happen one day but, as of now, don't hold your breath. Patrick Cohen is about to appear on "Community" and I'm sure his quote will go up. :)

6) What happened to that one show "I Live With My Parents"?

We made two episodes of "I Live With My Parents" to secure funding for more episodes. Everything Ragtag has produced, including WNG and MFG, has been self-funded. We didn't get sponsorship from Icee Pops or Bagel Bites. We just happen to eat a lot of Icee Pops and Bagel Bites and since they were around they became props. Since no one bit on ILWMP, we decided not to make anymore episodes.

7. What took MFG so long to come out!?

"My Future Girlfriend" just ended up being a lot more complicated than our previous shows. It has a score (by Dan Ingala), special effects (by Jeff Billings), incredible titles (by Harty Durfor), lovely cinematography and color correction (again, Billings), and a professional sound mix (by Evan Menning and Chris Hall). This has made "My Future Girlfriend" our best looking and sounding production yet but, since we can't afford to pay anyone, and everyone is kindly and generously donating their free time, things take a little longer. Still, we think you'll love the finished product!

8. Is this a big April Fool's Joke?

We really wouldn't go to the trouble of funding and producing a five-part webseries JUST to trick everyone. Promise!

Anything else?

"MY FUTURE GIRLFRIEND" TEASER!

2011-03-15T15:00:00.000-07:00

Check it out on April 1st!

Rod and Henry are back!

2010-04-29T13:51:00.001-07:00

behind-the-scenes of a super secret upcoming "my future girlfriend" promo.

2010-03-26T10:20:00.000-07:00

This week, the gang and I contacted the members of an old gang of ours and asked them to very kindly shoot a scripted promo for "My Future Girlfriend." Since they're in New York and we're in Los Angeles, I had to direct this promo via webcam as they shot it on a flipcam. Why am I being so secretive about the participants? Watch and see...

A Fighting Weekend

2010-02-22T07:32:00.000-08:00

We had another long, but fantastic, weekend of shooting on "My Future Girlfriend" and really we could not be happier with the stuff we got! We spent Saturday in M Bar, shooting some very important scenes that we'll pick up and shoot the next half of next week. We also shot a FIGHT SCENE (special thanks to America Young) and if you'd like you can see how we prepped in our apartment on Friday night...

Then, yesterday, we stole a bunch of night exteriors (Ragtag rolls with no permits) and even lit some outdoor stuff and THAT looks incredible as well.

Of course, we can't do this alone. We have an incredibly hard-working bunch of talented actors and crew members who show up no matter what the circumstances. Take Cheryl Texiera, for instance, who showed up on Saturday having not slept the night before (due to work) but came ready for a fight scene. Or Chris Hall, who is working hard on a big budget movie (which we can't mention), got sick on Friday night, but STILL showed up on Saturday morning. Honestly, they are troopers and we're so lucky to have them. We also had a few extras show up on Saturday who hung tight while we figured out some complex shots and scenes and we owe THEM big time too.

Finally, yesterday, while we were running around, we'd leave a couple of actors behind depending on what we were shooting. When I popped my Flip Cam into my computer last night, I found this video...

rainy brigitte.

2010-01-17T15:09:00.000-08:00

rainy weekend

2010-01-17T14:28:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, "My Future Girlfriend" went on location, shooting some pivotal scenes on the streets of Los Angeles. (Note: Try not to shoot on Ventura Boulevard, as people love to honk and yell things at film crews)

We also had our first indoor location - ComicSmash! on Ventura Boulevard! This provided us with a beautiful location that distracted us to no end because of the toys, comics and statues that were calling our names. Check out this brief video...

Right now, however, I am sitting on the couch, waiting for the cast and crew to arrive (though Brigitte Hagerman is here thirty minutes early! what a pro!).

One hold-up?

It's fucking raining!

WHAT THE FUCK?

We moved to this town to avoid rainy, cold shoots. Yet, both weekends we've shot, we've been stuck with rain. You can take the New Yorker out of New York...

Some cover sets are planned in case this rain doesn't let up and we can't get all of the outdoor stuff we've planned.

Wish us luck.

Hofstra Factor

2009-12-15T07:21:00.000-08:00

In this video, Hofstra University alumni Kirsten Scoles and Ritchie Filippi talk about the high amount of Hofstra graduates on set.

Cheryl, Blue Screen, Revenge

2009-12-14T11:58:00.001-08:00

Here, Cheryl Texiera describes the blue screen going up behind her for a very important moment in our new webseries - "My Future Girlfriend."

Because I surprised Cheryl with a very close FlipCam video, she decided she would exact revenge by turning the camera on me. She taught me a very important lesson in FlipCam manners that day...

The Return!

2009-12-13T07:45:00.000-08:00

Day 2 has begun and look who's back on a Ragtag set...

shooting day 1!

2009-12-12T20:50:00.000-08:00

All I can say is - Incredible first day - Thanks to the hard work and dedication of a dozen cast and crew. They will all be named shortly. But let's start with breakfast.

Brian, Patrick and I went out last night to pick up breakfast and snacks for everyone, as our call time was 7AM. Since this is only our first shoot, and we're still New Yorkers at heart, we figured we'd stick with tradition and pick up bagels and cream cheese. What did we find out?

Finding bagels in Los Angeles is like finding the Covenant of the Ark.

We started at Ralph's, the classiest supermarket in town, and walked straight to their bakery. Lined up on a table were an army of pre-packaged bags of bagels. The problem? They were hard as hockey pucks. Not wanting to damage the teeth of our actors, we decided to move on. So, we drove to nearby Yum Yum Donuts. It was around 10:30 PM at this point. We approached the man at the counter and asked, "Can we have a dozen and a half bagels?" He said, "Sure!" Then he looked two feet to his left and said, "Oh, we don't have bagels." We asked, "When will you have bagels?" He said, "Oh, in the morning." We asked, "You'll have bagels in the morning?" He said, "Yes. Everything." We asked, "So we can come here at 6AM and get bagels?" He said, "Oh no. Not 6AM." This 'Who's on First?' conversation went on for about five minutes. Finally, we settled on playing our chances in the morning. At 6:30AM, I drove to Yum Yum, walked in and said, "Can I have a dozen and a half bagels?" The new person behind the counter asked, "Oh, you ordered already, right?" I said, "Yes." And walked out with a box of bagels. Mission accomplished, even if I sort of maybe stole someone else's order.

But this wasn't the only touch of New York in our morning. See, for the first time in months, it rained heavily in Los Angeles. While we're lucky we didn't schedule exteriors, it couldn't help but feel like a good New York-y omen.

Actors and crew arrived at 7AM, and around 8:30AM we set up our first shot. Brian and I watched on the monitor, while Angel shot this behind-the-scenes video with this HD flipcam, an early Christmas present from my brother. Thank you George! Enjoy the following video...

We had a full crew on this one and some toys we've never really utilized before. Since "My Future Girlfriend" is a very cinematic webseries, inspired by movies like "The Terminator" and "Back to the Future," we all wanted to step up our game. Enter Jeff Billings, legendary young cinematographer from our college, who is bringing that feel in spades.

While our apartment is now much bigger than the "We Need Girlfriends" apartment, we still were occasionally crammed in tight spaces when shooting, due to a larger crew and more equipment. Take, for example, where Brian had to sit to watch the monitor...

Shooting progressed nicely throughout the day. Brian did a fantastic job directing. And later on during the day, we had a special guest. Tom Holland, director of "Child's Play," "Thinner," and, one of my favorite movies of all time, "Fright Night." He came with our pal Rob G, hung out, watched a couple of scenes and threw some words of encouragement our way. Great to have him on set.

Everything seemed to moving along without a hitch! Until, something ALMOST went wrong. From a distance, we all watched in horror as one of the big, heavy lights was headed straight for the head of our old pal Ritchie Filippi, assistant director, and a staple of Ragtag Productions' past shoots. As the heavy light rapidly descended towards his head, we saw a hand leap out and grab the stand, as it was mere centimeters from Ritchie's head.

That hand?

Belonged to Matt Hall - boom mic operator and younger brother of our old friend Chris Hall. Here is video of the aftermath.

Thank you Matt!

All in all, an incredible day. Big thanks to the actors - Evan Gaustad, Cheryl Texiera and Kirsten Scoles. Big thanks to the crew, cinematographer Jeff Billings, Ritchie Filippi, Chris Hall, Matt Hall, Jason Krangel, Mike Barnwell, Natascha Jones, Angel Acevedo - and - of course - fellow producers Brian Amyot and Patrick Cohen. Well done all!

Back to the grind tomorrow morning at 7AM! Expect more posts.

it has begun...

2009-12-12T11:27:00.000-08:00

Stay tuned tonight for photos, videos and stories!

"You're like Jon Favreau!" - Chris Hall

Vintage Ragtag

2009-12-07T16:58:00.001-08:00

While trolling the internet today, I came upon this little behind-the-scenes promo reel from about 2005 that gives a nice peek into the early days of Ragtag, pre-"We Need Girlfriends." It's produced by our friend J Hanna, and gives you a real look into not only our process, but how Brian and I have changed our looks through the years. Fun stuff!

The Prep Work Begins...

2009-12-07T08:02:00.000-08:00

We start shooting "My Future Girlfriend" this Saturday, December 12th, and have been having a bunch of pre-production meetings building up to the big first day. Last night, Patrick and I worked on a prop that may or may not be a big deal in the "My Future Girlfriend" universe...

What does it all mean?

Stay tuned for more posts as we start shooting...

the table read!

2009-11-23T07:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Brian, Patrick and I gathered all of the actors together for a table read in our humble abode in North Hollywood. It went swimmingly. This is the first time we've all heard the script read aloud and I must say, it sounded great. We're all getting really, really excited about this thing. We absolutely love the actors we're working with, they're funny, they're nice, they're dedicated and they made every little moment come alive, even just sitting on the couches in our apartment.

After that, Jeff Billings, our director of photography, came over and had a nice, long meeting with Brian discussing the look of this new series. We're really upping our game on this one and are giving it a much more cinematic feel than the low budget, down and dirty, independent style we used on "We Need Girlfriends."

It's all moving along nicely as we head towards the first weekend of filming. The updates will continue! Stay tuned.

"MY FUTURE GIRLFRIEND" ANNOUNCEMENT

2009-11-19T18:13:00.000-08:00

Ragtag Productions is proud to announce they have begun production on their latest webseries “MY FUTURE GIRLFRIEND." This five-part mini-movie is described as a “romantic comedy Terminator" and marks the team's first foray into sci-fi comedy. It follows Clark, a schlubby underachiever, who is visited by Kelly, his girlfriend from five years in the future who tells him that due to a rift in the timeline, she must help him fall in love with the present day version of herself.

Ragtag's first webseries, "We Need Girlfriends," gained over one million visitors a month to its official site. It was written about in the New York Times, Huffington Post, Slate, USA Today, Yahoo News, The Guardian Unlimited and numerous other publications, before it was sold to Sony Pictures and CBS as a half-hour pilot script, which is currently in development.

"My Future Girlfriend" will be directed by Brian Amyot based on a script by Steven Tsapelas. It will be produced by Amyot, Tsapelas and Patrick Cohen.

The show will star Evan Gaustad as CLARK, one-half of the lead couple. Gaustad is coming off of the webseries “Vicarious.”

It will also star Cheryl Texiera as KELLY…

Former “We Need Girlfriends” star Brigitte Hagerman as the mysterious LISA…

Kirsten Scoles as one of Clark’s best friends, the tough, tomboy CHRISTINA…

And another “We Need Girlfriends” alum, Patrick Cohen as Clark’s other best friend, the loud, obnoxious ALAN…

The series will start shooting in December and is aiming for a spring release.

Stay tuned to this blog for more information as we get further into the process!

all quiet... or is it?

2009-10-28T15:34:00.001-07:00

Things have slowing down steadily on this blog, I know. However, I can assure you, they're about to pick up soon. We're working on something brand, spanking new and can't wait to start talking about it and posting about it. I'll say the following three words to describe it...

Ragtag Does Sci-Fi.

Sci-Fi is one word, right? I mean it's a shortened version of science fiction... I'm going to stick with my "three words" description.

In the meantime, things are slowly creeping forward with the CBS pilot version of "We Need Girlfriends" as we hit the two year anniversary of the day we sold it. I know, I know, it's been awhile. But this is the typical TV development process. I can't say any of us like it. But we deal.

Also, things have changed in our new North Hollywood digs as well. A couple of weeks back, Angel moved out and into his own pad in Sherman Oaks, taking well over five-hundred DVDs with him. Our collection is looking fairly anemic these days. But, our new roommate, none other than Patrick's brother Jeff, is bringing some DVDs with him so perhaps that can bulk things up again.

Like I said, we're gearing up for something here and I can't wait to start blabbering about it.

Until then, watch "The Terminator."

beer quest!

2009-09-02T15:02:00.000-07:00

Our friends Kieran Valla and Jon LaPearl are producing a new webseries out of New York and it is hosted by none other than our old pal Steve LaChioma (You might know him best as "Dennis" in "We Need Girlfriends").

We at Ragtag absolutely love this promo and are so proud of our friends for making it. Check out the promo here. And stay tuned for "Beer Quest"!

Nintendo Party!

2009-09-01T14:20:00.001-07:00

Last week, the Ragtag Gang went to a Nintendo Party hosted by our old Hofstra pal Greg Bellavia, wherein everyone had to dress up like a famous video game character. Here we all are. Extra points to everyone that can name who we are...

house of sudz gone

2009-07-23T12:51:00.001-07:00

It has come to my attention (thanks to Evan "Rod" Bass) that the House of Sudz laundromat in Astoria, home of the first ever meeting between Tom and Lucy in the "We Need Girlfriends" web pilot, and seen here in this screen grab....

...has closed down. See...

Thank you House of Sudz for the memories and for allowing us to film for free. We'll miss you from 3,000 miles away.

and we're back...

2009-07-14T15:05:00.000-07:00

It sure has been awhile. Why so long, you ask? Well, when CBS delays your sitcom until 2010, you end up with a lot of time and little money. This means it's back to the day jobs for Brian, Angel and I, as we work in the unfulfilling industry jobs waiting to get back into the game.

In the meantime, we've been keeping busy! We've been developing and writing something new (more on that later, hopefully). And, hopefully, fingers crossed, we'll have some "We Need Girlfriends" news in the near future. Believe me, we're just as anxious to get this thing going as you are to watch it. We're actually more anxious. Because day jobs are boring.

And what are you all up to?

mailbag - finally!

2009-05-04T11:37:00.000-07:00

Phew!

It sure has been a long time since I've posted anything.

Our friend Courtney got on my case about it last week. I must apologize for the delay. We've all, obviously, been adjusting to life in Los Angeles, have focused on working again and before you know it, you haven't posted a blog in six weeks. Very, very lame on my part. And I apologize.

But, I promised a while back to answer some of the pressing questions you all had about the future of Ragtag and "We Need Girlfriends." So, do that I will.

Devon asked two questions...

1) How come being on team tom is ultimately better than being on team rod AND team henry?

Did Patrick put you up to this?

2) Are there certain events from your move across the country that you're just DYING to put into writing for the show?

When we were in our hotel bar in Nebraska we met a group of forty-something guys that put up cell phone towers and were so incredibly excited to see new people in the bar that they wouldn't leave us alone. They ultimately offered us jobs helping them put up cell phone towers, then promised us they could get us a lot of "trim" in Nebraska. Trim, apparently, means.... you know. In almost every script we've written since then, we've included some sort of reference to trim. Hopefully we can popularize the ridiculousness of this moment. Maybe "Trim is the new Squirrel."

And the number one question on everyone's mind?

What is going on with the WNG TV series? Who is going to be cast?

Right now, the WNG TV series is STILL in development at CBS and Sony. We haven't shot anything, but the script is written. They decided the series didn't fit into their fall schedule, so right now it's on hold until 2010. We know this is frustrating as a fan of the show to have to wait so long. TV production is a notoriously slow process so you'll have to bear with us. And hey, if you really like WNG and want to see it on the air a little more quickly, feel free to write to CBS and tell them that.

So, since we haven't shot anything, the casting is still up in the air. We, obviously, love Patrick, Seth and Evan and hope the network will too. And if you love them, why not include that in the letter you promised us you'd write to CBS? I mean, this is how "Star Trek" was saved, right?

Thank you all for your questions! I promise to post more now.

evan conquers universal, gets eaten by a 20 footer (25)

2009-03-20T12:53:00.001-07:00

Evan "Rod" Bass is in town visiting, so on Tuesday morning we all got up extra early and took the fifteen minute drive to Universal Studios in Hollywood!

We started by taking the famous tour of Universal Studios. The tram started out slowly enough. Brian and I even posed for this very nice photo which our mothers would be proud of.

But things quickly took a turn for the worse! First, we passed by this familiar landmark...

When who should we see outside of it disposing of a body but NORMAN BATES!!!!

Of course, this was just a Norman Bates impersonator that eventually chased the tram around with a butcher knife. We realized this actor had one of the most amazing jobs in the world. He sits inside the Bates Motel all day, waits for a tram to pass by, then chases it. All day. Every day. Frankly, we were a little jealous. You should have seen the smile on his face when he was tormenting us. This was a happy man.

However, we didn't have much time to envy him, as another Universal movie monster was headed our way....

JAWS!!!!!!!

Luckily, we not only escaped unharmed, but we captured him. Well, I captured him...

Evan was eaten.

This wasn't the only creature that threatened Evan's life. You see, after Evan and I were scared shitless by the Mummy roller coaster (neither of us likes rollercoasters) we took a little break in the Universal arcade while Brian and Angel did the Mummy again. While there, a familiar face walked by and Evan, wanting a photo, yelled his name once...

"BEETLEJUICE!"

Then, he yelled it again.

"BEETLEJUICE!"

But before he could yell it a third time I exclaimed, "Evan! NO! DON'T SAY HIS NAME A THIRD TIME!" Luckily, Evan didn't and Beetlejuice was even kind enough to pose for this photo...

It seemed danger was everywhere at Universal Studios, but luckily we had a hero in our midst. A cybernetic organism, from the future, sent to protect us at all costs. He was, appropriately, badass....

Of course, this hero was later seen in a rather scandalous pose with the Incredible Hulk...

We had a lot of fun at Universal and this series of ridiculous photos of grown men well out of college acting like idiots should be proof of that. Enjoy!

28 conquers Me

2009-03-18T09:35:00.000-07:00

About a week and a half ago now, my roommates threw a little party for me in the apartment. A lot of people came (including Seth, who was in town!) and I even made "Watchmen" cakes. Here are some photos

It was a great, great time and I felt so lucky to have such great friends. Thank you all!

The next day, we went out for a special birthday dinner.

You see, a couple of months ago, while going to IHOP for an "All You Can Eat Pancakes" day (where Patrick got three orders of pancakes, eggs, bacon and french fries, and disgusted all of us) we realized there's a Chuck E. Cheese nearby.

So, I proclaimed that day I would have my birthday dinner at Chuck E. Cheese.

It made sense. I had my 7th birthday party at a Chuck E. Cheese and it was an absolute blast. Why wouldn't I have just as much fun twenty-one years later?

So me, Brian, Angel, Patrick, Seth and Angel's girlfriend Beth, also visiting, headed off to our local Chuck E. Cheese.

Angel ordered for us. We had only one request. We wanted a lot of food. Tons of food. Three large pizzas. An order of breadsticks. An order of Buffalo chicken wings. Angel took the honor of ordering, seen here...

We patiently waited thirty minutes for our food, but took the time to use our tokens to play some videogames, seen here...

Soon after, we settled in for all that food we ordered.

And you know what?

It was fucking disgusting.

And not only was it so fucking disgusting, but we had ordered a hundred bucks worth of it. So, we were forced to sit there and eat it all. Every disgusting bit of it. The pizza was somewhere between lukewarm and cold, the breadsticks were flaccid, and the chicken wings were described as "fat and skin covered with buffalo sauce."

We left the Chuck E. Cheese that day feeling completely disgusting. Was it our age? Were we too old to eat Chuck E. Cheese? Or was it the Chuck E. Cheese? Is Chuck E. Cheese disgusting?

Afterwards, my Mom called and I told her how Chuck E. Cheese was. She said, "Oh yeah, that place is gross. That's the only pizza I can't stomach."

So, I blame the mouse. But I can't blame him too much, because he was kind enough to pose for this photo.

Evan is in town this week! We went to Universal yesterday. Expect photos soon.

bacon lucky and tomato

2009-03-04T10:21:00.000-08:00

When Patrick came home late last night, we went upstairs to check on Smokey... and he was gone. I foresee only one logical conclusion.

Alf got to him before we did.

cat on a hot tin north hollywood

2009-03-03T21:14:00.000-08:00

I like hearing stories about Brian's childhood. Brian, the basis for the Tom character in "We Need Girlfriends," is clearly the most mature out of all of us, so it's hard to picture him as a kid.

But one of my favorite, and saddest, young Brian stories involve his childhood cat Smokey. One day, Smokey climbed high into a Memphis tree, too high for it to get down. So, Brian's parents called the fire department and asked them to get Smokey down. The fire department told Brian's parents, "We don't do that kind of stuff anymore." And Brian never saw Smokey again.

Today, Brian returned from the gym in our apartment building and said, "There's a cat in the stairway, just sitting there. I said, 'Hi cat.' Then I shook my keys at it."

A few hours later, I went to the gym, and there was that same cat, sitting there and meowing.

I went downstairs and told Brian, "That cat is still there."

We speculated that it might be a stray. The front door to the building had been open all day, so it was quite possible that this cat could have snuck in that way.

"Well, what should we do?" I asked Brian. "Should we give it some milk or something?"

So, Brian and I went up to the stairwell and brought the cat a little saucer of milk.

I told Brian that maybe this cat is the reincarnated spirit of Smokey. Or, perhaps, Smokey finally found his way back home, after over twenty years of traveling.

I just went back to check on Smokey and it's still up there, meowing away. Did anyone lose a cat in North Hollywood? If not, how does one take care of a cat? Please help us.

questions...

2009-03-03T11:18:00.000-08:00

We've noticed a lot of questions lately in our comments section about the "We Need Girlfriends" TV series and other projects we have in development.

So, we've decided to bring back an old feature of our WNG MySpace blogs ---

The "We Need Girlfriends" mailbag!

Post your questions in the comments section and we will answer them.

episode VI, and we're done!

2009-03-01T13:43:00.000-08:00

We wrapped up the marathon around 2AM last night.

It was quite an experience, one we'll always remember. It made us realize just how goddamn amazing the original trilogy is, compared to the prequels.

I recommend it for everyone.

episode V, CLEARLY THE BEST.

2009-02-28T23:44:00.000-08:00

We have just gotten through "The Empire Strikes Back." BOY! OH BOY! The best of the bunch? I still think so.

Jeff, Patrick's brother has gone. Brian, Ritchie, Patrick and I are still sticking through. Angel has yet to watch a movie. He's such a nerf herder.

episode IV, beyond loved.

2009-02-28T21:19:00.001-08:00

Well, those prequels are pretty much useless now. We found "Revenge of the Sith" to be surprisingly enjoyable, but as soon as we were about 5 minutes into "A New Hope," we realized just how fucking useless and crappy the prequels are. Plus, they just don't fit at all with the original trilogy. There is absolutely no connection.

We're about to start "Empire Strikes Back," which is my favorite. Here we go!

episode III, enjoyed!

2009-02-28T19:00:00.002-08:00

We've just finished "Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith," which was complimented by a Little Caeser's dinner.

Patrick's brother Jeff has joined us, and we're about to embark on marathon viewing of the ORIGINAL TRILOGY!

Hot Dog!

But while I'm here, here's the surprise.

It's the first episode of "I Live With My Parents," a webseries we shot over the summer. The 2nd episode was also supposed to be online, but we're having some YouTube trouble with it. We'll work on it. In the meantime, enjoy!

episode II, devoured.

2009-02-28T16:12:00.002-08:00

We've gotten all the way through "Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones." And the arguments are already starting.

Ritchie and I preferred it to "Episode I." Sure, you could drive a landspeeder through the plot holes, but at least we don't have to sit through as many jedi meetings and galactic hearings.

Brian and Patrick prefer "Episode I." Brian's reasoning is at least "Episode I" makes sense. Patrick's reasoning is that "Episode I" stands up because of Darth Maul. You know, his five minutes of screen time.

Here's a video of the arguing...

episode II defeats us from Ragtag Productions on Vimeo.

And, don't forget, we have a special surprise for later today. It's A BIG SURPRISE!

episode I, watched.

2009-02-28T13:39:00.002-08:00

We're all the way through "Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace." The reviews are mixed. Patrick and Brian swear it was an enjoyable watch. Ritchie and I found it unwatchable. And Angel is still in bed - he's been pulling doubles all week.

Patrick has just made spinach dip and we are getting ready to watch "Attack of the Clones."

the phantom menace ends... from Ragtag Productions on Vimeo.

episode I

2009-02-28T11:03:00.002-08:00

The viewers are in place... kind of.

Brian and I are sitting here with our friend Ritchie, ready as ever to watch "The Phantom Menace," BUT Patrick Cohen wanted to go for an early morning jog, so now we're waiting for him to take his extra long shower. The movies alone are 13 hours worth of content, so if you add in breaks and ordering food and etc. stuff, we're going to be here until 2 or 3 in the morning. Ah well.

We have a semi-surprise built into this event, so stay tuned for the details.

I'll be blogging again after "Episode I" is over.

a long time ago in a galaxy just outside of hollywood...

2009-02-24T19:25:00.005-08:00

This Saturday, in our apartment, in front of the 73 inch HD television set that Patrick bought one day on a crazy, wild-eyed whim, we four are going to do something we've been talking about since our friendship began...

We are going to watch all six "Star Wars" movies in an epic marathon of Bantha sized proportions.

It's an endurance test, to be sure. Like most, we really hated the prequels and since those three will encompass the first SEVEN hours of the marathon, we will be like Rocky and Apollo at the end of "Rocky II" before we even get to the opening crawl of "A New Hope."

Which was also a place of debate...

You see, there was some discussion about which versions of the original trilogy we should watch. Should we watch the ORIGINAL theatrical cuts, with their brisk running times and Muppet puppet budget dance numbers? Or, should we watch the crappy, crappy special editions with the CG Puddle of Jabba, Han Shooting Kind of First, the Audrey II Sarlacc Pit, and, most infamous of all, THE HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN GHOST...

Now, of course, we all prefer the original cuts to the Special Edition. But Patrick and I made an argument for the Special Editions. If we were going to do this marathon correctly, we were going to have to do it the way "George Lucas intended." (For those of you who are too young to remember the trailers for the Special Editions from '96 and '97, the narrator kept saying, "The way George Lucas intended") Even if the way George Lucas intended was crappy and Jar Jar Binks-y, we wanted to see just how well the CG added to the original trilogy fit in to the prequels.

So, we're watching the Prequels and the Special Editions.

Now, there's another issue.

Recently, Brian and Patrick suggested we add "The Clone Wars" to the line-up. I am incredibly against this. A) I don't consider them part of the storyline. B) I DON'T WANT TO SEE STINKY THE HUTT IN ACTION.

Then I said, "If we watch that, we might as well watch The Star Wars Holiday Special!"

So, now that debate is out there.

The marathon starts Saturday. I plan to blog and vlog between the movies to let you know our progress. Please comment below on whether or not you think we should watch "The Clone Wars."

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!

Angel's Top 10.

2009-02-21T22:37:00.003-08:00

I like movies. I love buying DVDs (now, Blu-Ray). I enjoy movie award shows. I just don’t care for making yearly Top 10 movie lists. I see the movies, I like it or don’t. May see it again in theaters. Buy the DVD (now, Blu-Ray). Watch it again, watch the special features. Done. Move on. I rather play Tetris on Facebook, read Hollywood Reporter, look for jobs on Craigslist, work on my Las Vegas puzzle, catch up on my DVR, eat lunch, and other things that wouldn’t be appropriate to mention here.

Nobody cares what my Top 10 movies are right? I’m gonna strain my brain thinking of all the movies I saw last year, just to think of 10 favorite movies. It would be easier to just to look at my DVD collection and see what I’ve purchased in 2008. Or just ask me.

YOU: Hey Angel, did you see “You Don’t Mess With The Zohan?

ME: Yeah.

YOU: Did you like it?

ME: Yes, I liked it.

YOU: Cool.

End.

So in order to appease my roommates, because apparently I have to make a list, I will write down a list of my favorite, well-liked, movies I didn’t mind this year. But I will do it differently. I will make my Top 10 list of movies by their tagline.

Angel’s Unpretentious 10 Well-Liked Movies of 2008 (in no particular order):

1. A comedy about getting dumped, and taking it like a man.
2. Fully Charged.
3. Go!
4. Because you were home.
5. An Adventure Beyond the Ordinar-E.
6. Welcome to a world without rules.
7. Put this in your pipe and smoke it.
8. Quantum of Solace*
9. Trust no one. Deceive everyone.
10. What does it take to find a lost love?

*Apparently has no tagline.

Top Ten Movies of the Year - The PATRICK Edition

2009-02-21T22:28:00.004-08:00

ed. note... This is Steven Tsapelas here. Prepare for handsome actor Patrick Cohen's Top List...

All right. So this is my first blog for Ragtag Productions, and I feel like I should start out by saying something. Something important. Brian is a crazy person. “A weak year for films?” Are you kidding me? This was an amazing year for films... with movies like “Hamlet 2” and Uwe Boll’s now-classic “In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale”… wait.

Well, it was an amazing summer at least. To see the master M. Night Shyamalan at work in his masterpiece “The Happening,” and to finally see the return of my childhood idol Indiana Jones… damn.

Well at least it was an amazing year for superhero films. I mean this year we got movies like “The Spirit” and “Punisher: War Zone”... hold on…

Maybe Brian was right…

Jokes.

Okay, here we go.

First, the unquestionable

Worst Movie of the year:
THE SPIRIT-
I’m sure most of you haven’t seen this movie. That’s a blessing. One day in December, my brother and I were bored and decided to see a movie. Why not? Movies are fun when you’re bored, right? Yea… do yourself a favor. When this is on TV check it out. No more than 10 minutes or so at a time, mind you, but give it a watch. And ask yourself: What the hell is Sam Jackson doing in this movie?” This isn’t like “Jumper” where it’s so bad it’s funny. This is like when a handicapped kid falls and starts crying. It’s just too embarrassing and painful to laugh at. This was easily the most painful cinematic experience of my life. And I’ve seen two Uwe Boll movies and “Ultraviolet” on opening night.

Now, the

Movie I hated the most this year:
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL-
Okay, so this movie is 100 times better than “The Spirit,” but there’s a big difference. I didn’t grow up watching the Spirit and thinking he was the coolest hero ever. I didn’t run around my backyard dressed like the Spirit. But Indy? Come on, I had the hat, the whip, a toy gun, and I’d run around fighting imaginary Nazis. I must have been Indy for Halloween at least 8 times (most recently in ’07). So to watch this movie was heartbreaking.
Now I’m not one of those people who’ll tell you that aliens don’t belong in an Indiana Jones movie. I get it. It’s the 50s now. The occult and WW2 has been replaced by UFO sightings and the cold war. I get it. That’s fine. I also don’t mind Harrison Ford in this. Is he amazing? No. Is he too old? Yes. But he works for me. I felt like he was Indy. The problem with this movie is not Shia LeBouf, Karen Allen or Ray Winstone. The problem with this movie is Lucas. The Beard. This was Episode 1. Stupid freaking CGI monkeys, ridiculously fake looking fire ants, surviving an atomic bomb in a refrigerator. A refrigerator people. And don’t even get me started on the gophers. My God the gophers. I know it was you George. You broke my heart. Again.

Okay, now here’s my top ten. Bear in mind, these are my favorite movies of the year, not necessarily what I think the “best” 10 movies of the year were. Also, it should be noted that I’ve had a busy few months getting set up in a new town, pursuing a career, etc, and haven’t seen quite a few movies. My blatant omissions are “Slumdog Millionare,” “Milk,” and “The Reader.” I have every reason to believe that I’d love two of those movies (guess which two), and who knows where they’d fit in my list. But here’s the best I can do with what I’ve seen.

10.) Rambo-
I know, I know. This one’s controversial. Brian will probably think I’m an idiot. But you know what? This movie totally works for me. I got exactly what I paid for. I wanted to see Rambo get really pissed off, and blow up a whole shitload of people, preferably in or around Vietnam. That’s what I wanted the second I read that they were making this movie, that’s what I wanted when I bought my ticket, and that’s what I got. I love it.

9.) Forgetting Sarah Marshall-
If it hadn’t been the year of Pineapple and Tropic, this would have been my favorite comedy of the year. I loved Segel in this. He killed me, especially when he starts singing the Dracula music that first time. When you don’t expect that accent, it’s freaking hilarious. And let’s just call it like it is: Mila Kunis is both ridiculously hot, and ridiculously good in this movie. Throw in a little cameo by Bateman and it’s no wonder my broke ass bought this on Blue Ray.

8.) The Visitor-
After years of being a nameless “that guy,” it’s good to see Richard Jenkins working so much. He’s hilarious in “Step Brothers,” and one of the better parts of the disappointing (sorry, Steve) “Burn After Reading,” but it’s in “The Visitor,” that Jenkins really shows what he can do. He is so good in this movie. I believe him every second that he’s on that screen.

7.) Pineapple Express-
Hilarious. This movie totally redeems Franco. Because, let’s face it, he’s pretty friggin bad in the Spiderman films. But in this? Amazing. Even with the useless and decidedly unfunny opening scene, this movie rocks. And Danny McBride in that final diner scene made me laugh harder than almost any other moment in film this year.

6.) Tropic Thunder*-
Okay, so a second ago? When I said Danny McBride’s diner scene made me laugh harder than almost any other film? Yea, that exception would be this film. Every moment worked for me. Loved the trailers in the beginning (particularly the “MTV best kiss award winner Tobey Maguire” moment), the “full retard” speech and virtually every moment of this film.
So why the asterisk you ask? Well, unfortunately, we live in a world where it’s apparently acceptable for a director to release a dvd of a film as an “extended” or “director’s” cut, without including the original theatrical release. This always drives me crazy. With the exceptions of the Lord of the Rings, Bladerunner, and possibly “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” (which wisely included the theatrical cut on the Blue Ray), the theatrical cut is always better. This lengthened, slowed down, and overall less entertaining version of the film is just not great. I really hate that I can’t own the movie I saw in theaters.

5.) Iron Man-
Not much to say about this that you don’t already know. A great, fun, and action-packed ride. Downey Jr. is so watchable in this role that I wish they could’ve made it 10 years ago so we could have more sequels. The Rocketeer meets Robocop with a little taste of Batman. Awesomeness.

4.) The Wrestler-
I am angry at the academy. This movie deserves a best picture nomination (and in my humble opinion, probably a win). It is beyond good. Rourke is so good here that it seems like it is practically a documentary. A perfect film. I wouldn’t change a frame, and that final moment is amazing. How Springsteen can win the Golden Globe and not even get a nomination for what is clearly the best song in any movie this year is mind-boggling. In my opinion the best film of the year.

3.) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button-
God I loved this movie. I understand why not everyone did. It is very long, has some serious pacing problems (do we really need to spend so much time in the hospital room? We get it, we get it, get back to the story…), and can feel a little heavy-handed at times. But it really worked for me. Aside from what is obviously a stunning breakthrough in makeup and visual effects, this is just a beautiful movie. I loved every actor in this film, I loved Brad’s voice-over, and I loved what has become one of my favorite lines ever. “We have to lose people. How else would we know how much they meant to us?” I’ll be honest. I teared up a bit at the end. A beautiful and touching film. Absolutely loved it.

2.) Wall-E-
My God this movie is awesome. I love sci-fi, I love animation, and I love Fred Willard. All in one? Brilliant. This movie is astonishing. The entire first act is basically a silent film. No dialogue (except for a bit of “Hello, Dolly”), and yet the story couldn’t be clearer. We easily follow and understand Wall-E’s needs, desires, and emotions. And of course, I love what happens to humanity in the future, and the captain’s epiphany as he realizes that it’s our job to take care of Earth. Brilliant film. My new favorite pixar movie (although I’m eagerly awaiting UP, so we’ll see how long that title lasts!)

1.) The Dark Knight-
Obviously. Come on, I’m a huge superhero and comic book fan. How could this not have been my favorite movie of the year? I am ridiculously pissed at the academy for this one. Should have been up for best picture. Should have been up for best director, best score, and best adapted screenplay too. This was not the second biggest movie of all time for no reason. There’s so much here to love.
Ledger’s performance is perfect. I love Bale in this role even more now than in the first one (the Batman voice totally works for me), and I love that this has become an ensemble piece. It’s not just Batman’s journey now, we follow, and care about Gordon and Dent, because of the wonderful script and performances. And that truck flip? Hopefully this film can convince filmmakers that sometimes CGI won’t cut it. Sometimes you have to go back to basics, and get some practical effects. Hire some stuntmen. It looks so much better.
Now I’m not Steve, I’m not scouring the internet for Batman 3 rumors, and I don’t think this was a perfect film (I hated the sonar eyes for instance), but it is easily one of my favorite movies of all time. Take your time Nolan, if you can’t give us another masterpiece, don’t make a third. One Spiderman 3 was enough.

There’s my list, Steve. Let the arguments begin!

Top Ten Movies of the Year - The BRIAN Edition

2009-02-17T23:49:00.004-08:00

I felt this was a weak year for films. There was certainly a lot that I liked, but I’m not sure if they will stand the test of time (with the exception of my top 5). I see a lot, but always want to see more. There are a few films that I haven’t seen this past year that I feel may sneak on to the list, but them’s the breaks. So here we go…

Worst movie of the year:
SPEED RACER – Its difficult to pick a worst movie of the year, because there have been a lot of terrible films this year (and I’ve seen many). My worst movie is usually one that I just hate. Speed Racer was terrible, but more than that, I just hated it. It was so over indulgent, over done, and over blown. What a waste of money and time, it was almost two and half hours (!) of nonsense.

Best worst movie of the year:
JUMPER – This is probably one of the worst movies ever made. I’ve seen the majority of it on HBO. I expected it to be one of the worst movies ever made. It met my expectations, but to my surprise, it’s so bad that I loved every moment of it. Samuel L. Jackson’s final moment is a classic moment of trash cinema.

10) CLOVERFIELD – This was just a cool movie. It’s a concept (the monster movie) that has been done a million times over, but they totally revamped it. Terrifically shot with great looking effects, a badass monster. It was a really fun ride, and actually had a good story; I was genuinely interested every time the camera cut back to the day at Coney Island.

9) TROPIC THUNDER – Great cast, I even loved Jack Black (normally I don’t). Makes fun of actors, directors, writers and producers, and is very smart about it, how could I not love that. Tom Cruise dancing. That’s all I need to say.

8) THE DARK KNIGHT – Steve thinks this is a flawless film, so I always get him worked up poking holes in it. But ultimately, it winds up on my list. There is just no denying that it is a great film. Probably the best comic book movie ever. I love Michael Caine and Gary Oldman in these films so much. Ledger’s performance will win an Oscar and deserves to be remembered.

7) PINEAPPLE EXPRESS – I always like to get as many comedies on my list as possible, but it’s hard, because it’s so hard to do comedy well. There was some pretty good comedy this year. Pineapple was hilarious. Take out the opening scene and it’s just about a perfect movie. I love Rogen, but Franco really steals the show and owns this movie, and then Danny McBride shows up and just owns everybody. “Thug life.”

6) BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER – It might be the year of the comic book movie for Steve, for me I guess it’s the year of the documentary. This is the first of two to make my list (note: Taxi to the Darkside was also brilliant, I saw it this year, but it was the Oscar for last year, so I’m not gonna let it qualify for this list). Bigger, Stronger, Faster is about steroids. Find it on DVD, rent it, buy it, and watch it. It raises great talking points and shows so many perspectives on the issue. But it’s told from a first person point of view, which makes it emotional and powerful.

5) SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE – It’s the likely best picture winner this year, and it’s an excellent film. It’s a real crowd pleaser and I definitely got swept up in it. It’s a fun watch and interesting to see actors, locations, and visuals we don’t see every day. I’ve always been a big Danny Boyle fan, so I’m glad he’s getting all this acclaim.

4) MAN ON WIRE – Another amazing documentary. This one, however, plays like a narrative film. The story is almost too good to be true. You won’t believe that a man could tightrope between the Twin Towers until you see it. Philippe Petit is such a compelling character, and the last image is somehow so powerful that I feel like it will be ingrained in my brain forever.

3) RACHEL GETTING MARRIED – I did expect to like this film. My girlfriend wanted
to see it, I like Demme, so I went in with an open mind. I LOVED this film. I loved everything about it. I’ve never really seemed anything like it. It just seemed so real, so honest. It was the best I’ve ever seen Anne Hathaway. The supporting cast is outstanding; Bill Irwin is hilarious and heartbreaking. And in my opinion, Rosemary Dewitt outshines Anne Hathaway and gives a great performance.

2) WALL-E – My favorite Pixar film ever, probably my favorite animated film ever. The first 40 or so minutes of the film when WALL-E and EVE are alone on earth is so beautiful and breathtaking, I could watch it every day. The sound was great, Ben Burtt is a genius. WALL-E was such a great character, I fell in love with him and I believed everything he did, they gave that little robot so much personality.

1) THE WRESTLER – A pitch perfect performance from Rourke, but this movie so much more than just a performance piece. Darren Aronofsky is not getting enough credit, this is masterfully directed. Every moment works so well, the pace is perfect. There is so much subtly to the film, especially from a director that is typically flashy, you can just tell that he was in total control of this picture. Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood give equally great performances. I loved every moment; it just sucked the life out of me. And I listen to Springsteen’s title song nonstop.

Top Ten Movies of the Year - The Steven Edition

2009-02-16T12:00:00.005-08:00

The Oscars are next week. I've been watching the show every year since "Unforgiven" won Best Picture, but this is the first time I'll be watching it live from the West Coast - a full three hours earlier! Exciting, right? Anyway, I think so.

Anyway, in anticipation of the Oscars, I am encouraging my friends and roommates (Brian, Angel and Patrick) to list their Top Ten Favorite Movies of 2008 here on this blog. I'm not saying the Top Ten Best Movies of 2008 --- we all know that "Four Christmases" was, empirically, the Best Movie of the Year --- I'm saying YOUR favorite movies of 2008. And I encourage you, the reader, to list some of your favorites as well.

And here we go...

First, let me list my two Least Favorite Movies of 2008...

2) FOUR CHRISTMASES --- It started as a joke. When Brian and I saw the trailer for "Four Christmases" we jokingly said to each other, "Oh we need to see that." Cut to, Thanksgiving Eve. Brian and I go to the Arc Light to see "Milk." "Milk" is very sold out. So, we decide, "Let's see 'Slumdog Millionaire.'" Also very sold out. So we both jokingly say, "How about 'Four Christmases'?" And we laugh and we laugh. Then, for some reason, we continue the joke and buy the tickets. And we laugh and we laugh. Then, we look down at the tickets. Fifteen bucks. We just spent fifteen bucks. To see "Four Christmases." The theater was packed. The movie started. The audience ate it up! The guy sitting next to me was literally sitting on the edge of his seat waiting to see what would happen next. Brian said the guy sitting next to him was literally slapping his knees, he was laughing so hard. But it didn't hit us. Nope. It bored us. To tears. It was painfully, painfully, painfully contrived and unfunny. And stupid! Just stupid!

1) INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL --- Do I really need to say anything more about what a piece of crap this movie was? Lucas, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me FOUR FUCKING TIMES. SHAME ON ME! At least we learned an important lesson from the film... If a movie opens with a CGI gopher coming out of a hole... it's going to be bad.

Now, on to the good.

MY TOP TEN FAVORITE MOVIES OF 2008!

10. NICK AND NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST - Now, let me explain. I hated the crap out of this director's previous film, "Raising Victor Vargas." My reasoning was simple--- The lead character spends all of his time either shirtless or in a wife beater. He eats at the dinner table with no shirt on. Maybe it's just me. Maybe it's because I always wear four or five layers and am uncomfortable with nudity. But still, I hated "Victor Vargas." So, I went into this movie a little hesitant. And, I ended up falling in love with it. Now, to be fair, there might have been some external factors which contributed to my love for "Nick and Norah." Namely, I was moving out of New York that week and a love story set against the backdrop of the Lower East Side made me realize just how much I was going to miss New York. I bought the DVD recently and didn't have that same magic feeling. But I'll put it on here for the way it made me feel the first time. Though, part of me is thinking I should exchange it for "Pineapple Express." Can we call it a tie?

9. BURN AFTER READING - I've stuck with the Coen Brothers. Sine "O Brother," they'd been in a real slump. I still saw them all --- even the god awful "Intolerable Cruelty." I knew there were brighter days ahead. Then came "No Country For Old Men," which I loved. Real, dramatic, twisted, vintage Coen Brothers. But I was really, really hoping for them to do another dark comedy. Then came "Burn After Reading"! I loved the style. I loved the tone. I loved the actors. I was laughing out loud all over the theater --- and I saw it alone.

8. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE - I really dug this movie. I dug the style. I dug the storytelling techniques. I think it's a fine, solid choice for Best Picture.

7. INCREDIBLE HULK - I love the Incredible Hulk TV show. My biggest problem with Ang Lee's 2003 "Hulk" movie (besides the comic book panels, the running time, the tone, the acting, the story and the leap frogging Hulk) was that it wasn't the TV show. So, when this movie came along and basically WAS the TV show (complete with Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno cameos), I was as happy as a Hulk Dog in Hulk shit. I saw this a second time with my Mom, also a big fan of the TV show, and we had the following conversation...

Mom: (Queens accent) It was nice that they referenced the TV show! That was my problem with the new "Batman" movie. They didn't even acknowledge the fans of the old TV show.

Steven: By "new Batman movie," do you mean the one that came out in 1989?

Mom: Yeah.

6. IRON MAN - What a great year for Marvel films! After coming off the colossally bad 2007 ("Spider-Man 3" and "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" - UCK!), they really shined this year with "Incredible Hulk" and this. I thought this flick was really smart. They took "Iron Man," a second tier hero, hard to adapt because he's basically a guy in a robot suit, and gave him one of the most charismatic leads ever in a superhero picture --- ROBERT DOWNEY FUCKING JR! And, to top it off, he has to fight The Dude. Kudos to Favs for directing the hell out of this movie. Kudos indeed.

5. SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK - I recommend this movie only for die-hard Charlie Kaufman fans. Otherwise, you'll be completely lost in this dense, complicated, confusing flick. I loved every second of it!

4. THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON - I didn't see this flick until yesterday, after hearing many, many, many mixed reviews. And, I can't believe it, but it really got to me. It almost played out like a really good book. That's why the running time didn't bother me so much. It's my choice for Best Picture, though I think "Slumdog" will win.

3. WALL-E - How did they make me care so much about a robot? How!? Was it Ben Burtt? Was it Pixar? Was it Andrew Stanton? Or was it just some sort of serendipitous merging of all the magical elements of the universe that made possibly the greatest animated film of all time? All I can say is, "MO!"

2. THE WRESTLER - Now, I love wrestling. I've read many autobiographies. Watched many documentaries. And have always known that the life of a wrestler isn't exactly easy. Then this movie comes along, and simply, beautifully, and naturally absorbs years and years worth of these stories and puts them all on the shoulders of Mickey Rourke. I really love this movie. And I'm so glad Marisa Tomei is also getting recognition. But, come on, Academy --- How did this movie (and "Wall-E" and "Dark Knight") not get a Best Picture nomination? It's certainly much, much better than the middle of the road "Frost/Nixon." It's a real shame. BUT GO MICKEY ROURKE!

1. THE DARK KNIGHT - This one's kind of a no-brainer, isn't it? I accurately predicted in my "My Favorite Movies of 2007" blog that "Dark Knight" would top my list next year, and here we are. The movie did not disappoint. It raised the bar for not only comic book movies, but traditional summer blockbusters. It was the "Batman" movie I've always wanted. So rich. So dense. So full of characters and ideas. And boy oh boy did I "Love that Joker." But even more than that, I loved that Harvey Dent. I'm waiting with baited breath to see where Nolan takes this series next. I only have two words. "RIDDLER. ROBIN."

So, that's the Stevie List. Bring it on, roommates!

dorm lifed.

2009-02-12T02:34:00.003-08:00

Recently, at a gathering for internet media producers, we met the creators of the webseries "Dorm Life." "Dorm Life," as some of you may know, is a webseries that chronicles the misadventures of the 5 South dorm in a college. We had become aware of it over the summer, when they beat "We Need Girlfriends" in a poll for the best webseries. And after we started watching it, it quickly became our new favorite webseries. Check out one of our favorite episodes... here....

On Wednesday night, we were invited by one of the "Dorm Life" creators and actors Brian C. Singleton to the premiere of "Dorm Life - Semester 2" at UCLA. So, Brian, Brigitte and I went to the college campus and after having a helluva time finding visitor parking, we settled into our chairs and watched the first six episodes of Semester 2.

And they are HILARIOUS.

Each episode now runs around ten minutes, as opposed to the five minute episodes from Semester 1 and the new running time totally works. The writers of this show are incredibly talented. Expect great things from them.

Semester 2 premieres next month. Look out for it!

friday fever!

2009-02-11T19:59:00.002-08:00

This Friday (the 13th) a new "Friday the 13th" film is hitting theaters.

AND FRIDAY FEVER IS SWEEPING THE APARTMENT!

Angel is, without a doubt, the biggest "Friday" fan in the apartment. He owns the Paramount "Friday the 13th" box set, as well as "Freddy vs. Jason."

This week, Brian, Angel and I were in Target, when Angel came upon the documentary "His Name Was Jason." He immediately bought it. He came home and we watched it. (A shout out to our friend Rob G of Icons of Fright, who is interviewed in the doc)

Since then, we've been popping in "Friday" movies on and off. We're all getting pumped.

Now, here comes the kicker.

This "Friday the 13th" happens to coincide with another holiday...

Valentine's Day.

Angel is going out of town. Brian is going out of town. Patrick's girlfriend is in town. Me, I'm cool. But the question quickly arose, "When are we going to see the movie?"

Angel said, "Wait for me and we'll see it on Tuesday when I come home." I said, "Are you crazy? We have to see 'Friday the 13th' on Friday the 13th!" Angel said, "Shit, you're right," and managed to talk his girlfriend into seeing it with him.

But if Angel and Brian were out of town, would that mean I'd have to see it alone?

Nope!

Trista came to the rescue!

Patrick's girlfriend, it turns out, is a "Friday the 13th" fan and she wants to see it THIS FRIDAY THE 13TH!

So, I'm set. Angel's set. Patrick's set. Trista is set. And Brian...

Well, to be honest, Brian doesn't care either way.

But this Friday, we are getting our Jason.

Slaves to the Tin: Part 1

2009-02-05T11:27:00.006-08:00

We always had a problem. See, with over a thousand DVDs, fifty blu-rays, a 73 inch HD television and four people with an incredibly diverse taste in movies, we could never settle on what we should watch on those lazy nights when we're all home and have no desire to leave. It always turned into an argument.

"You want to watch 'The Rocketeer'? I don't want to watch 'The Rocketeer.'"

"Well, what do you want to watch?"

"How about 'Crank'?"

"No, 'Crank' sucks."

"Have you ever seen 'Crank'?"

"No."

"Then how do you know it sucks?"

"I've seen enough to know it sucks."

"Where did you see some of it? On HBO?"

"I don't know. I guess on HBO."

"HA! It was never on HBO! It was a trick question! You've never seen any of 'Crank'!"

And so on and so forth.

So, about a month and a half ago, Angel came up with a solution.

We would each write the names of ten moves on a slip of paper. We would put these slips of paper into a Christmas cookie tin, which would be securely placed on top of a DVD shelf, next to a framed photo of Skeletor...

Whenever the four of us were together, we would pull out a slip of paper. This would be the movie that we all had to sit down and watch together. We couldn't get up. We couldn't leave. We couldn't make an argument for another movie. We were SLAVES TO THE TIN.

Just before we sealed the tin, Brian and Patrick suggested a radical idea. We should each write down a movie that we've never seen, but have also never, ever wanted to see. Four incredibly bad movies. As I scanned through our DVD collection, I saw nearly a dozen awful movies I have never wanted to see. 'Red Sonja.' 'Kingdom of Heaven.' 'Domino.' Finally, I wrote down my choice... 'Varsity Blues.'

Now, it was time for the first tin pull. We decided to go in age order, from oldest to youngest, so Patrick pulled first. He shook the tin up, reached his hand inside and pulled out...

Patrick had actually written "From Russia With Love" down, so he was happy to pull it.

Next, I, Steven Tsapelas, stuck my hand in the tin. I mixed the pieces of paper around, clamped my fingers around one and pulled it out...

"Blackhawk Down."

I screamed.

Now, for years, Angel and I had been arguing about "Blackhawk Down." You see, when it came out in the Winter of 2001, I saw it in theaters and didn't like it. Angel also saw it in theaters, but looooooved it. One Friday night in college, Angel wanted to see the movie for a second time. However, he didn't have a car. So, he came into my room and asked if he could borrow my car to drive to the theater and see "Blackhawk Down" by himself. I told him, "No." This turned into an hour of back and forth whining where he said, "Come ooooooonnnnnnn Steeeeeeeevvvvvvveeeee." And I said, "No. Maybe if it was a good movie, I'd let you borrow the car," to which Angel replied, "You saw the 'Royal Tenenbaums' 10 times!" I said, "Exactly, that's a good movie," and Angel continued to bitch and complain that 'Blackhawk Down' was also good. I eventually gave him the car, but have disliked "Blackhawk Down" ever since.

So, that night, I was incredibly frustrated with myself for picking 'Blackhawk Down' And I was vocal about it. So Brian and Patrick came up with something called "lifelines."

Basically, if you don't like the movie you pulled, you have two lifelines.

One is called "THE TEAR," wherein you tear the sheet of paper, and it is never allowed to be viewed again.

The other is called "THE YANKEE SWAP," where you put the piece of paper back into the tin and get a second shot at pulling another movie.

Now, the interesting thing about the lifelines, is that we each only get to use them once in the entire run of the tin. So, if I "Yankee Swapped" 'Blackhawk Down,' I would never have another chance to use the Yankee Swap again.

Guess what? I used the Yankee Swap on 'Blackhawk Down.'

It wasn't just that I didn't want to watch 'Blackhawk Down.' It was that I couldn't believe I pulled it.

I reached my hand back into the tin and pulled out another movie...

"DICK TRACY."

Boom! I had actually written that down on a sheet of paper. I was as happy as a pig in shit.

Our first double bill went off pretty well. Sure, "From Russia With Love" bored everyone but Patrick, but the "Dick Tracy" follow up treated us all well.

Through the subsequent weeks, more movies were pulled.

Our second round led to a double bill of 'Good Night and Good Luck' and 'They Live.'

Our third round led to a double bill of 'Varsity Blues' and 'The Warriors.'

Our fourth round led to us watching 'Equilibrium.' Patrick wrote that one down. He loves 'Equilbrium.' Have you ever seen 'Equilibrium'? It sucks. It sucks really hard. Why didn't Christian Bale flip out on the set of that one?

Last week, however, the shit hit the fan.

See, somewhere along the line of the tin, we came up with a new lifeline.

It's called "THE COCK BLOCK."

Basically, if a movie is about to be put in that you didn't pull, but that you have no interest in watching, you can COCK BLOCK it from being put in. However, you only have up until the movie is in the DVD player.

So, around 5PM on Saturday, Patrick reached into the tin and pulled out "The Quiet Man." We had never seen "The Quiet Man," but it's one of Patrick's favorites. It's a John Ford movie which stars John Wayne. Multiple Oscar winner. A real classic. We were kind of excited to be watching it.

That is, until 8PM. When Angel, lying on the floor, half asleep, took action. Just as Patrick was kneeling down to put "The Quiet Man" into the DVD player Angel yelled, "COCK BLOCK."

On "The Quiet Man."

He COCK BLOCKED "The Quiet Man."

It was the first cock block ever used, so it was a big moment for us.

Patrick had to reach back into the tin and pull out a new movie. He pulled out "Better Off Dead." Patrick had also written this one down. He's apparently a big fan of "Better Off Dead." I'd seen it before. I think it's just, "Okay." Brian and Angel watched it that night. They also thought it was just "Okay."

It was around 10PM at this point and we decided we had enough time to pull another tin movie. It was my turn, so Brian shot this little video of the tin process...

The Goddamned Tin from Ragtag Productions on Vimeo.

The moral of this story is that while waiting for CBS to greenlight your pilot, you end up with a lot of free time on your hands.

Hollywood Web Television Meet Up

2009-02-05T11:14:00.003-08:00

Last night, Brian and I went to the monthly Hollywood Web Television Meet-Up with our friend Patrick Flynn, who is behind the very funny webseries "Keith Powell Directs A Play." You should check it out! In fact, I'll embed it here...

The event was a blast. It was incredibly crowded and full of web content creators. We saw such internet celebrities as Tay Zonday, the singer of "Chocolate Rain," and Jessica Rose, best known as "LonelyGirl15."

We also got a chance to meet a lot of cool people, including our old friend Joshua Cohen from tilzy.tv, plus the creators of the full length internet pilot "Graduates," starring WNG's own Steve LaChioma. Check it out here... www.graduatespilot.com

We also met the really cool Fine Brothers, who have a lot of great ideas on how to unite internet content creators and produce stuff that can rival networks. All very eye opening stuff. You should check out the Fine Brothers at www.ravenstake.com

It's starting to feel like there's a real community developing for internet creators. We're digging it.

Merry Christmas from the Gang!

2008-12-18T22:59:00.003-08:00

Things are moving along here in Los Angeles, but next week we're all headed back to our respective homes for the holidays.

This evening, however, we spent a good deal of time setting up a monopod to get a nice Christmas photo. After four tries, we finally got it right. Here it is, for your viewing pleasure.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Wifi in the sky!

2008-12-01T19:13:00.004-08:00

Hello. You probably wouldn't believe it, but I am currently 36,000 feet in the air flying back to Los Angeles courtesy of American Airlines and Gogoinflight.com's WiFi service. Yes, I'm online and in the sky. Pretty freakin' awesome. I've already made two TURBULENCE references to Steve on iChat.

Only $13 for the entire 6 hour flight (but of course, laptop batteries don't last that long). It sure beats the inflight entertainment of FRED CLAUS. I can at least catch up my movie news, buy/sell stocks, and send some emails. Sweet.

Hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving break.

hello seth, goodbye seth

2008-11-26T09:36:00.004-08:00

Last week, I went to the airport to pick up everyone's favorite Henry - MySpace star Seth Kirschner.

Seth was visiting LA for various reasons (well, friends and business... two reason...) and we made sure to show him a good time.

By that, I mean, we watched "Swingers" then said, "Let's go to all of the places in 'Swingers.'"

This meant the Dresden, home of the scene in "Swingers" where Marty and Elayne sing "Stayin' Alive."

Here we are, with our friend Abbey...

(In the dark, I feel Seth and I look a lot alike. This is probably why he played a fake version of me.)

And here's Marty and Elayne...

The shots are dark because the Dresden is dark. But the Dresden is also AWESOME. We're planning on making it a regular hangout. I recommend it to everyone.

We bid farewell to Seth on Sunday, but had a great time hanging out with our friend from Astoria.

Thanksgiving is almost upon us. Patrick and Angel left yesterday and Brian leaves tomorrow morning. Happy Bird Day everyone!

from plushgun to cal state...

2008-11-18T11:17:00.003-08:00

On Sunday night, we were invited by our good pal Dan Ingala (AKA: PLUSHGUN!) to the club Cinespace, where he was performing a show AND premiering his new music video for "Just Impolite." The show was great, as usual. Everyone must see Plushgun live. It's spectacular.

Then, yesterday, we were invited by Joe Ansolabehere to speak to his short film writing class at Cal State Fullerton. We had a great time discussing the making of "We Need Girlfriends," then went out to a local sports bar where we hung out with Joe and some of his students. They were all really big fans of the show and we were honored to be there.

A very special guest is coming to our apartment today. I'm picking him (or her?) up at LAX at 3:05. Then I'm showing her (or him?) around Los Angeles. More on that later!

P.S. According to the message boards, many a folk want to know what's going on with the WNG TV Series. Alas, we have no new news at this time. It's continuing to work its way through the CBS development process. Hopefully we'll have some news to report soon!

idiots organize dvds

2008-11-12T11:46:00.005-08:00

After receiving our stuff yesterday, we set forth on what would be the greatest challenge of our move in...

ORGANIZING OUR MASSIVE DVD COLLECTIONS.

As you can imagine, this was quite a chore. It all started with a late night trip to Ikea, where we purchased three of their "FARK" shelves. Brian, Angel and Patrick quickly put them together, which resulted in Patrick building one the wrong way. Oh well. But once this space was cleared up, we spread our DVDs across the floor...

We quickly realized we had a lot of doubles, and even triples. For instance, we had three copies of the 16 disc "Superman: The Ultimate Collection." We also had triples of the entire run of "Arrested Development," "Predator," "Galaxy Quest," "The 40 Year Old Virgin," "Mallrats," "Die Hard," "Pleasantville," and many, many, many more, including "Big Trouble in Little China"...

We decided we'd only put one of each DVD on the shelves, and our doubles would go in our respective rooms. But the biggest challenge came when we arrived at one of our many quadruples. We even shot a little video to show the dilemma...

4 Indiana Jones, Not Indiana Jones 4 from Ragtag Productions on Vimeo.

Finally, after hours and hours of setup, we organized our DVDs, wrapping up somewhere around 2:30 in the morning. Our apartment finally looked clean...

We did it!

our shit is FINALLY here

2008-11-11T11:02:00.006-08:00

As you may remember from our earlier blogs, on October 21st we handed our boxes and boxes of shit over to a moving company. Today, finally, our shit came. We were happy campers...

We've been through such a journey these past couple of weeks, that I almost forgot what I had even brought with me from New York. As I unpacked the boxes and boxes of my shit, I realized how few useful things I packed. For instance, Brian and Angel had boxes and boxes of dishes and clothes. I had a few bowls and some spoons crammed in a bag with VHS tapes, and one small bin of clothing, then a bunch of boxes filled with comic books, VHS and DVDs. Angel described my room as the kids room. It was hard to deny when I opened up a box to find this...

Of course, Angel shouldn't have been making fun of me for my childish play things. Because he quickly opened up a box to find this monstrosity...

He's Doing it For Her from Ragtag Productions on Vimeo.

2008-11-04T17:20:00.003-08:00

Last night, we went to an advanced screening of the horror film "Trick 'r Treat." In our brief time in California, we've found that there are tons of advanced and test screenings, and they're super easy to get into.

So, last night we saw Trick 'r Treat. Patrick and I loved it. Brian and Angel liked it. But that doesn't matter. What matters is what happens afterwards. As we were leaving the theater, talking about the movie, we were stopped by a guy that said, "I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm a big fan of the show." He knew who we all were and what we did on the show and was incredibly nice. While we've been recognized in New York before, it felt great to be recognized in this new town.

Sir, you made our night.

we own the night

2008-11-02T17:41:00.003-08:00

Last week, Clark, one of our WNG: TV producers invited to a Halloween party in Hollywood. Since we'd just pulled into town, we thought it would be a great way to relax and meet people. So, on Friday, after a meeting with our agents, we headed to a nearby costume shop and picked up whatever remained on the day of Halloween. The pickings were slim, but Brian managed to find a toga, Patrick a muscle suit, and Angel a prisoners costume. I had my Robin Halloween costume packed, because I never leave home without it.

We made the drive over to West Hollywood from our North Hollywood apartment. The GPS told us it would take sixteen minutes. It took us over an hour. It was so bad that at one point we saw two guys dressed up as Fred and Shaggy walking down the street. A couple of miles up the road, as we were caught in gridlock, Fred and Shaggy walked past us again.

As we arrived at the party location, we were surprised to find that the valets were no longer parking guests' cars because the streets were overcrowded. That left us to find our own spots. This proved difficult. We circled the streets, looking for spots, and coming up empty. There were thousands of people in costume walking the streets of Los Angels. At one point I saw a female Robin running down the street with a female Batgirl. Brian, Patrick and Angel encouraged me to get out of the car and run after her, but I can't imagine anything weirder than me in a Robin costume chasing a female Robin down the street. The circling continued...

After about an hour and a half of this, we decided there was no other option but to give up. We sadly drove back towards home. Then Angel remembered that our friend Karen had told him about another Halloween party in Burbank at Sardos, a bar best known for hosting Porn Star Karaoke every Monday night. (Self explanatory, right?) Karen said the bar would be packed. We pulled into the parking lot of Sardos and were surprised to find not many people in the parking lot. When we walked into the bar, we were surprised to find that, unlike us, most of the people in there weren't in costume. Angel texted Karen to find out where she was. It turns out the party was the PREVIOUS NIGHT. We ordered our beers and sat in the bar in defeat. We clearly did not own our first Hollywood party. In the parking lot of Sardos, we took this sad little photo...

price gauging!

2008-10-31T10:12:00.004-07:00

Yesterday morning at 6AM, we were lead into our new apartment by the building manager. Now, there are some discrepancies in this new apartment. First of all, not all the rooms are the same size. One is clearly bigger, and it has its own bathroom with a shower, a tub and two sinks. There were two smaller rooms that share a bathroom. And one room that was medium sized, but has its own bathroom. So, we decided, in the name of fairness, to duke it out for the rooms we wanted by price gauging with each other. It got intense, as evidenced by this video...

Buying Patrick Out from Ragtag Productions on Vimeo.

Finally, the rent on the smallest room went down cheap enough that I couldn't pass it up. But before I officially accepted it, I had to give it a brief once over...

Steve Goes Cheap from Ragtag Productions on Vimeo.

Brian got the second smallest room, and then it was down to Patrick and Angel, duking it out over the price of the largest room. It got intense. So intense that we didn't know if the friendship was going to survive.

Finally, Angel started to bend on the possibility of staying in the second largest room. But first, he had to determine if the room was big enough for him to sleep in. He made his determination in his own, Rod-esque way.

Brian Spoons Angel and Vice Versa from Ragtag Productions on Vimeo.

Finally, it was decided. Patrick was getting the biggest room, then Angel, then Brian, then me.

After a hearty Denny's breakfast, we headed over to Ikea to buy the proper furnishing to furnish our room. This ended up being quite the adventure. More on that tomorrow - After we've finished putting everything together.

leased

2008-10-29T17:48:00.003-07:00

We found an apartment! We'll be living in a lovely four bedroom in North Hollywood, California. In celebration of this, I'm posting some photos from Vegas. I wish I could tell you more stories, but remember, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

First, I took a photo with this ridiculous statue of Siegfried and Roy, which was way too good to pass up.

Then, we saw this ad for Entertainer of the Year - DANNY GANS. Which of course made us ask the question, WHO THE HELL IS DANNY GANS?

Finally, we met up with our old New York friend, current Las Vegas showgirl, JENNY LEE!!

It was a great time.

And tomorrow morning, at 6:30AM, we move into our new place in North Hollywood. Things are looking up for the Ragtaggers!

welcome to la!

2008-10-29T13:10:00.002-07:00

Yesterday, we went apartment hunting. We saw many great places, in areas like Van Nuys, North Hollywood and Silverlake. But one of these places stuck out.

It was a four bedroom for 1800 bucks. This is, of course, dirt cheap. When we arrived at the building, the woman in charge volunteered to give us a tour. While walking us around, she took us into the elevator. She started saying that the other elevator had some problems and it got stuck in between floors. Then she jokingly said, "Can you imagine that, how horrible it would be to be stuck in an elevator with two good looking young men."

TWO. GOOD. LOOKING. YOUNG. MEN.

This, of course, meant that two of us were good looking, and two of us were not. It was an odd thing to say. Why didn't she just say a few? Or a couple? Why did she specify TWO?

The entire day we argued who she meant by the two attractive young men. We figured Patrick Cohen was one of them. Then I immediately took myself out of the running. So it was down to Angel and Brian. Brian swears she was looking at him when she said it. Angel swears she must've meant him. The arguments continued. Please weigh in on the comments. Who are the two attractive ones?

We went into a Jamba Juice to discuss the apartments we saw. Patrick parked his car outside and was continuously worrying about if his car was in a legal spot. Turns out, it wasn't. Want to know how we knew? Because Patrick went outside to find his car being towed...

He managed to stop it just in time, but he ended up with a $300 ticket that we agreed to split four ways.

Welcome to Los Angeles. Population, Two Attractive Guys, Two Schlubs.

from the town of bedrock...

2008-10-28T07:13:00.006-07:00

On the drive from Arizona to Nevada, we made a discovery out in the middle of the desert that was too good to pass up, even though we were on a time crunch. We saw this...

It was a camp ground made up to look like BEDROCK. We were blown away by how cool, and odd, this was. So, we quickly entered the main office and found out you could take your own tour of Bedrock for only four bucks. We plopped down our money and headed inside.

And for some reason, we took more photos in Bedrock than we did at any other time on our trip. More than the Grand Canyon, even! We're idiots. But we're well documented idiots. I've included some of my favorite photos below, but this is just the tip of the proverbial iceburg.

Say hello to Brian Amyrock, Steven Tsapelastone, Pat-rock Cohen and... uh... Angel Acevedo.

As you can see, this Bedrock is a little old, and kind of falling apart, but that didn't stop us from fully, 100%, completely enjoying ourselves. We even slid down the dinosaur slide...

Dino Slide from Ragtag Productions on Vimeo.

hello LA....

2008-10-27T22:46:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone,

Well, this evening, around 6PM, we finally made it into Los Angeles. We're currently staying with our friends Ritchie and Jess and we'll be apartment hunting all day tomorrow. I'll put up the Bedrock photos soon, as well as the photos from Las Vegas. And hey, I'll probably keep updating this thing as we set ourselves up in Los Angeles. But for now, I am tired, and must sleep.

they don't call it the grand canyon for nothing...

2008-10-27T09:28:00.012-07:00

After leaving Four Corners yesterday, we made sure to pose in front of the Welcome to New Mexico signs. It looked like this...

Our terrain had changed once again, from the cornfields of Iowa, to the flatlands of Nebraska, to the mountains of Colorado, to the Arizona desert. Now, this entire trip, Brian, Angel and Patrick have been giving me a hard time because I'm not impressed by nature. For instance, when we were driving through the Colorado Rockies, Patrick said, "Isn't that amazing?" and I said, "Meh, it's just a bunch of rocks." But, for some reason, the desert really took my breath away. Observe the pictures...

We pulled over to a nearby abandoned gas station to get more photos, when suddenly a tiny little cat approached us and followed us back to the car. It was cute...

The cat quickly hid underneath the car, blocking our path. We obviously didn't want to kill the cat. But Angel, thinking quickly, reached into his car and pulled out some beef jerky to lure the cat out with. It worked and we moved on to the Grand Canyon.

Again, it was absolutely wonderful. We posed for so many photos...

While climbing up the tower to get a better view, Patrick saw a rock formation in the distance. Patrick, a HUGE Superman fan, that has modeled his life after the character said, "I bet I could go out there and climb that."

I thought this was crazy. After all, that rock formation was way, way out there, and ridiculously dangerous to climb. I mean, it did overlook THE GRAND CANYON. Soon thereafter, Angel joined in and said, "I would try to climb that." Brian and I both agreed that we wouldn't try to climb it, but we moved on and forgot about the rock formation. Until this happened...

It's a guy... CLIMBING THE VERY ROCK FORMATION THAT PATRICK WANTED TO CLIMB. We stood there in awe, chatting with our fellow tourists about it, wondering if he would be able to do it, AND/OR get back down. I was convinced he was going to fall off the rocks and die. But he managed to reach the top...

We burst into applause and he raised his hands in victory. The best part is this guy was so nonchalant about it. He was the epitome of calm and cool.

After Grand Canyon, we ate lunch at a Wendy's in Arizona. As we were leaving, we saw a man on line that looked vaguely familiar. Guess who it was?

THE GUY THAT CLIMBED THE ROCK FORMATION.

For some reason though, we didn't talk to him or get a picture. We were idiots. This guy was our hero and we let him go.

But in the parking lot, in Arizona, in McCain country, we saw this...

It was a packed day, and there's STILL more to come. Remember...

four states worth of fun!

2008-10-26T19:44:00.005-07:00

After waking up early this morning, we headed on an early morning trek to the monument known as The Four Corners. The Four Corners is the exact point on the US map where the states Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado meet. So, conceivably, you can be in all four states in seconds. And judging by this video, we were - and the results were a little dangerous...

State Nausea from Ragtag Productions on Vimeo.

Here are some photos from the Four Corners...

Today was a big day. We hit up the Four Corners, The Grand Canyon, The Hoover Dam and Las Vegas in one day. And guess what? I'm in Las Vegas now. And personally, I want to eat some buffet, then wander around the strip, rather than blog about our Grand Canyon adventures. So, I'm off. But, I will give your a preview of a little detour we took on the ride from Arizona to Nevada. A little detour that was a place right out of history...

goodbye flatlands, hello mountain lands

2008-10-25T20:18:00.022-07:00

We departed Colorado Springs this morning, after a big breakfast, courtesy of Michelle. Compared to the flatlands of Nebraska, the Rocky Mountains sure lived up to their name...

There was no highway route. Every route was a scenic one. We ended up driving through many small towns, which looked like they hadn't changed in decades...

Many of the houses and farms had political signs...

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant, mainly because they had this giant tree sculpture.

We also found an amazing motel, connected to a Drive-In Movie Theater, where you can watch movies from your room. We snapped a ton of photos...

We continued on the road, weaving through the mountain paths, until we came upon this...

Now, as you all know, I'm not one for nature and/or physical activity. So when Brian, Patrick and Angel climbed down into a nearby creek, I was quite hesitant to join them, as evidenced by this video...

Climb Down from Ragtag Productions on Vimeo.

But this was too good for me to pass up. So, I climbed myself down there, slowly, and surely, and we posed for this photo, which Angel got by resting the digital camera on a rock and setting the timer.

After hanging around the creek, we explored the area across the way, which was a hiking trail that led up the mountain. It was quite beautiful...

After awhile, Patrick, Brian and Angel veered off the traditional hiking trail and just climbed the mountain themselves...

I shot a video, as Angel and Patrick climbed up...

Victory! from Ragtag Productions on Vimeo.

We headed off towards the Four Corners monument at the end of Colorado. However, we were all kind of tired, so we tucked into this abandoned gas station to discuss our plans...

We decided to turn back and stay at a nearby hotel, which turned out to be part of a Native American casino. I'm typing the blog from my room in said casino, while watching "Ghostbusters II," as Patrick Cohen sleeps in the next bed over. We're waking up bright and early to go to the Four Corners, then the Grand Canyon, then Las Vegas. Tomorrow is a busy day and I need my sleep. So I bid you farewell.

once in a lifetime...

2008-10-24T22:28:00.027-07:00

This morning, as we headed out of Nebraska, we agreed that we would take the advice of one of the men we met in the bar last night. We weren't going to visit any rest stops off of the highway. We were going to veer off the beaten path, get in adventures, and visit small, small towns. We figured this trip was a "once in a lifetime" trip, so our cliched, overused, tongue-in-cheek excuse for doing anything was, "Come on, it's a once in a lifetime trip."

Just past this Nebraska landmark...

...we saw a sign for a town called Sutherland. We decided to pull in for lunch, only to find a town with a population of 1200, which was virtually abandoned. So, we got back on to the highway, and headed for the next town. This town was Paxton...

When we pulled into town, we saw how small it was. It was quite unlike anything we were used to...

It had it's own bank...

And this Pit Stop...

Notice... Beer. Food. Wine. AMMO.

Then we saw this restaurant...

Now, last night, Mike had told us about a restaurant in Nebraska that was famous because of its owner, a big game hunter that had his prizes all over his restaurant. We kind of forgot he told us about such a place as we entered Ole's... but then immediately remembered when we saw the following things...

Either this was the exact place that Mike described or big game restaurants are very popular in the flatlands of Nebraska. We sat down, ate our glorious meat-filled meals, and posed for this photo, courtesy of our waitress...

Afterwards, we shot this video, showing just how small Paxton, Nebraska is.

Paxton from Ragtag Productions on Vimeo.

Notice Patrick's reaction at the end of the video? Do you know what happened? He got stung by a hornet! On video! We laughed and laughed at his misfortune. Then, we continued on the drive towards Colorado Springs. Towards the end of Nebraska, we pulled over to look at a map and discuss our route...

While at this stop, we all did something we haven't done on this entire trip --- We peed on the side of the road. Now, here's the thing. We've been very, very good about peeing in rest stops. We've timed our trip accordingly and never had any problems. But, we were in the middle of nowhere now. And we had to pee. So, we did. And wouldn't you know it? The one time we decide to pee on the side of the road, we hear the sound of a car pulling up behind us. I was sure we were dead men. I was sure this was either a police officer or the farmer that owned the land. I was sure we were in for some trouble. Nope. Want to know who it was?

It was a man. In a pickup truck. Asking us for directions.

Could there be a more awkward time to ask someone for directions?

We moved on. Iowa and Nebraska pretty much looked like this...

...so as we got into Colorado, we were happy to see this...

On our way to Angel's friends place in Colorado Springs, we passed through miles and miles and miles and miles and miles of farmland and cows and hay and corn. We were eager to find more small town places, and when we passed the following small restaurant...

We quickly decided we should turn around and eat there. This was, after all, a "once in a lifetime" experience. So, turn around we did.

Inside, we found a woman behind a counter, tending to a table of only one customer - a woman and her three children. We ordered the blackberry pie, and the woman we believed to be the customer told us, "I made that pie." It turns out she was no ordinary customer - she was the owner's wife. The waitress asked us where we were from, and we explained that we were New Yorkers on our way to Los Angeles. At that point the owner's children could not stop staring at us. At several times their mother told them to stop. We figured they weren't used to strangers. In their bathroom was a box full of pamphlets about becoming born again. On the back of our check, the waitress hand wrote "God Bless You." This was God's Country. And the people were very nice. And the blackberry pie was delicious.

We headed into Colorado Springs. We were treated to a lovely dinner by Angel's friend Michelle and her boyfriend George and they took us to a local bar. This was a good day.

Gadgets

2008-10-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

So we're almost a 3 full days into our cross country adventure and thanks to our kick-ass assortment of gadgets, our trip couldn't be going any smoother. Here I'll break down our 21st century tools:

CELL PHONES:

Communication is a necessity in a 21st century world--no question about it. So obviously our first tool is our cell phones. We are employed with 4 brilliantly designed wireless communication devices. They are: HTC 8525 (Angel's), 3G iPhone (Brian's), Blackberry Curve (Patrick's), and Motorolla Razr (Steve's). They all have their strengths and weaknesses, but as a team, they are unstoppable like Voltron. In addition, we are equipped with 2 Motorolla walkie-talkies for instant communication. These however are only best in short-range distances.

Brian's iPhone is the beast of wireless team. The 3G technology is phenomenal. He can do a hotel search on Google, come up with a list of results in a selected area, get the addresses, and with a push of a button, instantly start calling the hotel. This has come very handy as we searched for hotels while driving and never having to stop. Bam, it's amazing.

GPS:

A device first used and developed for military use, has now become a staple consumer appliance all over the country. We are traveling in two vehicles each with its own GPS system.

Garmin Nuvi 260W (Angel's) is a solid piece of gadgetry. Easy to use, great calculations, and very fast. Something to look for in buying a GPS is whether or not it speaks street names. Some do, some don't. I also like the widescreen screen which gives me more space and doesn't feel congested. I highly recommend getting one that does. Buy at Best Buy.

TomTom (Patrick's, not pictured) does not speak street names, but is still a pretty solid model. I like how it gives an overview map of your point to point destination and your traveling stats on your main window.

COMPUTERS

3 out of 4 of us brought along laptops for the trip. We have 2 Macbooks (Patrick and Steve), and a my brand new Macbook Pro (pictured). It is a sexy beast.

All have built-in high speed Wi-Fi, which unfortunately tried its damndest to get at our Howard Johnson the first night. With these badboys, we have been blogging (duh), checking and responding to emails properly, and soon to be scouting for a place to live in L.A.

is this heaven?

2008-10-23T20:30:00.001-07:00

Today, just as we promised, we went to the Field of Dreams in Iowa. Of course, before we did that we had to leave Chicago, IL and begin our drive into Iowa. There's something we noticed about Iowa. Something we dare not say to anyone from Iowa... So, all Iowans, please cover your ears...

Iowa is kind of boring.

I mean. It's flat. The towns are few and far between. Basically, we saw a lot of corn.

But, it didn't matter, because as we approached the "Field of Dreams" cornfields/baseball diamond, Brian, Angel and Patrick were wetting their pants, while I remained cool as a cucumber. (Remember, I don't like the movie, and I hate playing baseball)

But, even I'll admit, as we pulled down the pathway to the "Field of Dreams" site and saw the farmhouse and the baseball diamond, even I got a little excited.

My friends quickly whipped out their bats, their baseballs and their gloves and started a game.

I was quickly bored silly, but when the game was over, I eagerly volunteered to pose for a baseball card style photo. In fact, we all did.

This quickly become the most documented moment of our trip and rather than explain these photos, I'll just post them.

We drove over the Mississippi River and through Des Moines Iowa...

And after driving through Omaha, Nebraska, we ended up at the luxurious Ramada in Lincoln. As you can see our bathroom is a lot cleaner.

So Mom, please stop calling me to tell me to stay in nicer hotels.

We ended up getting a drink in the bar and were quickly approached by a Nebraska native named Mike who runs a company that puts up cell phone towers. Mike was quickly surrounded by his group of workers and they were all very friendly and nice to us. We've noticed that outside of New York people really are willing to be polite, talk and get to know one another. Mike asked where we were headed and we told him we were going to Los Angeles for work.

One of Mike's employees pulled me aside after I'd described this blog to him. He said he was worried that we weren't seeing the cool places on this journey, just the tourist places. He wants our blog to be real. So, in honor of him, I'll say that tomorrow - shit gets real.

abraham lincoln!

2008-10-23T20:07:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

We're currently in a Ramada Inn in Lincoln, Nebraska. For an extra 25 bucks a night we are living a life of luxury! The wireless internet is abundant, the bed sheets aren't riddled with holes and - best of all - the locks weren't busted off the door! We feel like a few kings.

We drove through Illinois, Iowa and into Nebraska today and visited the Field of Dreams. Stay tuned for photos.

that's the chicago way!

2008-10-22T20:22:00.009-07:00

Steven Tsapelas again. Today I got paired up with Angel on our drive from Akron, Ohio to Chicago, Illinois. Our first stop was at a Burger King, where Brian secretly planted a banana peel next to Angel's car door, then asked him to pose like he's cool, while we all waited for Angel to slip on the banana peel. If you look closely in the bottom corner of the screen, you can see it.

Alas, Angel missed the banana peel and we continued through Indiana and into Illinois. Our first stop was at a gas station, which had this very interesting sign...

That's right. Big... Cheap... Bombs. Isn't that awesome? So awesome we got the hell out of there.

After that, we headed into the heart of the Windy City and took this photo where we stand triumphantly in front of the Sears Tower... which is way in the background...

After five hours on the road, we were famished, and local legend had it that a pizza place called Giordano's had the most delicious deep dish pizza in the land.

So we met our old Hofstra friend Laura Fu, who helped us take down the incredibly thick deep dish pizza. We got the pepperoni and sausage. It looked like this...

We had made the mistake of ordering the biggest appetizer platter ever before the deep dish pizza arrived. See, it takes them 35 minutes to cook the pizza, so we figured we'd order some appetizers before hand. But the appetizer platter was huge! By the end of the evening, we were stuffed. Still, we managed to pose for this photo...

After this, Laura Fu was kind enough to take us on a tour of Chicago. She was a casting assistant on "The Dark Knight," so she showed us a ton of the locations where they shot our favorite movie of the summer. She also showed us the places where they shot "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." Then she showed us a giant nut...

Laura then had to go to class, so she left us to our own devices to walk around Chicago. Of course, we already had a destination in mind.

You see, somewhere around Indiana, while surrounded by cornfields, Brian and Angel were reminded of one of their favorite movies - "Field of Dreams." Then they thought, "We're passing through Iowa tomorrow. I wonder if that cornfield is really in Iowa." Brian did the research on his iPhone and found out that the cornfield AND the baseball field are actually in Iowa. So, he called the number and found out that it's open for FREE TOURS. Brian asked, "Can we play ball?" And the woman answered, "If you bring your own bats and balls." Since we hadn't packed bats and balls, we headed to a Chicago Target Store in search of them. It didn't turn out so well...

Untitled from Ragtag Productions on Vimeo.

So, we headed to nearby Sports Authority and were quite impressed by the quality of their selection...

Now, here's the thing - I have absolutely no interest in playing baseball on the "Field of Dreams." In the first place, I don't like playing sports. I was in Special Gym, remember? In the second place - I really dislike the movie "Field of Dreams." So, I didn't buy any sporting goods. I'll probably just walk around the cornfields in the LA Dodgers baseball hat my brother bought for me. But, my friends are super excited, therefore they spent a lot of money on sporting goods. And hey, they looked happy.

But there was another movie site I wanted to visit. Something that was a huge part of my childhood ----

The "Home Alone" House.

So, around 8PM we drove to the house which is on a very quiet residential street. We quickly ran up on to the sidewalk and Patrick snapped a blurry photo.

However, Patrick and Brian weren't satisfied with this. They wanted to run up to the front porch and snap a photo DIRECTLY in front of the "Home Alone" house. I'd been waiting for this moment my entire life. But -

I chickened out.

The house lights were on and I didn't want to get caught. But, Patrick and Angel were relentless, so they ran up there and this photo was snapped...

We're currently in Angel's cousin Rene's house. He's being a gracious host and letting us spend the night. Tomorrow it's Iowa followed by Nebraska. We're going to be dangerous in Omaha. Mark my words.

we're alive!

2008-10-22T05:42:00.001-07:00

We made it through the night!

Last night Brian & Angel had to switch rooms? Why? Well, their heater was unplugged. No big deal, right? Except when they tried to plug the heater into the wall, they found the cord wasn't long enough. Apparently this was never a problem before. They called the desk clerk and his daughter who came to check the heater. The daughter was laughing the entire time.

Now it's hello Chicago! We're going to make tons of Dark Knight and Perfect Strangers references.

this could be our last post...

2008-10-21T18:44:00.009-07:00

Hello everyone. It's Steven Tsapelas. We might die tonight. I'll explain more later. But first let me explain what got us to this point.

After the moving guys left, Evan (Rod) Bass came upstairs, with his vacuum, to help us clean up the place. I vacuumed Brian and Angel's floors, but Evan felt I didn't do a good enough job, so he came in and revacuumed my vacuuming.

After this, he bid us goodbye, and we said goodbye to Astoria, New York.

We're taking two cars to California, and today I was paired up with Patrick in his car while Brian was paired with Angel. Patrick put me in charge of the iPod and we quickly realized we have pretty similar taste in music. We sang along to REO Speedwagon and performed a duet of "Don't You Want Me Baby." Then, we hit a Billy Joel tear that lasted for way too long and resulted in Patrick singing, appropriately enough, Movin' Out at the top of his lungs.

We passed through New Jersey...

And Pennsylvania. (Didn't get a photo...)

The hours and the miles passed, and somewhere around the beginning of Ohio, Brian radio-ed me over the walkie talkie. See, as adults, we brought along short range walkie talkies so that we could communicate with each other from car to car. They proved to be fairly useless at short distances, but when we were within sight of each other, they worked just fine.

Anyway, Brian radio-ed to say that he'd found a cheap motel in Richfield, Ohio. It was a Howard Johnson's that cost an astronomically low 40 bucks a night! We were in luck!

Or so we thought. When we eventually pulled into Richfield, Ohio, after eight hours of driving and four hours of moving we were greeted by...

NO HOWARD JOHNSON'S.

This seemed impossible. After all, both Brian and I called the front desk to confirm that there were free rooms and Wi-Fi.

We pulled over into a nearby Wendy's to eat. It was actually a combination Wendy's/Convenience Store and Gas Station. While there, we discussed our prospects for a living place in Los Angeles. Brian said that if we go into an apartment complex and they say they don't have air conditioning, we should walk out immediately. Patrick said, "Well, unless we look into the pool and see a ton of hot women. Then we stay." Then Angel, in a fit of brilliance, said, "Unless those girls are a hologram, made to trick us into renting in this apartment."

I think he was serious.

We explained to him that it would be ridiculous for an apartment complex to invest hundreds of millions of dollars on perfecting hologram technology just to fool people into moving into their apartment complex. But Angel really believed his hologram theory was possible.

While this was funny, we were still without a Howard Johnson's motel. So, Brian asked a cop in the convenience store, "Where's the Howard Johnson's?" The cop looked at Brian like he was a babbling lunatic. He said, "It's over there" and pointed to the building DIRECTLY next to the Wendy's.

Of course, we were confused. After all, we're all college graduates. You'd think we'd be able to find something as prominent as a Howard Johnson's on an empty road near Akron, Ohio. When we pulled into the parking lot, we realized why we hadn't seen it.

See, that crappy, unlit Howard Johnson's sign was hidden next to a bigger, brighter, Holiday Inn sign. Not only that, but the motel itself was jammed behind a Holiday Inn. After being greeted by the unhappiest, unfriendliest motel desk clerk in the history of motels, we entered our rooms.

The first thing we noticed was the smell. You know that smell? Like that time a squirrel died in your backyard and no one wanted to pick it up, so it just decomposed all summer? That smell.

Then, we went into the bathroom... It was filthy. So filthy we shot a great video of it. Unfortunately, the HoJo front desk staff lied about the wireless. Sure, there's wireless. But it's stolen wireless from the Holiday Inn. But, somehow, I've managed to upload one of the videos from tonight. It's of the filthy bathroom. Check it out...

Untitled from Ragtag Productions on Vimeo.

That's not even the worst part. The worst part is the door lock, which appears to have been smashed off of its hinge at some point.

I'm sharing a room with Patrick, and I made sure his bed is the one closer to the door. If I don't make it through the night, please, someone, carry on with "We Need Girlfriends."

The movers are here!

2008-10-21T06:30:00.004-07:00

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I'm currently sitting on the same stoop where Tom sits when his girlfriend dumps him in "We Need Girlfriends" Episode 1, watching as Tom himself, Patrick Cohen, supervises the movers packing our shit into their moving van. I would just briefly like to thank "belkin54g" for letting me syphon off of his wireless internet.

Patrick had a gigantic acoustic guitar in the back of his trunk. This was shocking for two reasons. A) We never knew Patrick played guitar. And B) Why the fuck was he personally moving his guitar in the back of his trunk when we need car space for our suitcases, travel bags and computers?

His reasoning was as follows....

A) Patrick's Mom is a music teacher. (Patrick also plays the violin)
B) He's worried that his acoustic guitar could get damaged in the moving van.

Patrick was really against giving the guitar up, but I explained, "What do you think is going to happen? We'll run out of money in the middle of the country and miraculously come upon a talent show where your guitar skills can make us enough quick cash for the move?" While this would be awesome, it's pretty unlikely, right?

After enough of our complaining, he's now handing the guitar over to the movers, and praying it doesn't end up smashed into a million pieces, like it would if Patrick smashed it on a stage after a performance at his Mom's music school.

Next stop, Cleveland! (Actually, next stop lunch)

moving our shit - day 1

2008-10-20T17:19:00.005-07:00

Steven Tsapelas here. Today started bright and early for me at 8AM when I shaved then showered for a court appearance --- Traffic court that is. See, a few weeks back I went to the DMV to change my address when I was faced with some pretty startling news ----

My license had been suspended for two years.

You see...

Five years ago, when I was a lad of 22, fresh out of college, I was driving to the train station when I was pulled over my a friendly, neighborhood police officer who called me a jackass, then gave me a ticket for going 45 in a school zone. Two years after that, I went to court and paid my ticket. Then, three years later, I went to the DMV and was told I needed to show Proof of Insurance to prove that I was insured when I was driving the car while getting the speeding ticket. Because I had failed to show up when they sent me the initial papers (which were sent to the wrong address - because they had the wrong address), they suspended my license. Not that this mattered much. I've been living in Queens for the past four years, and have relied on the public transportation system. But, you know, I'm moving to Los Angeles. A town where if you don't have a car, you're pretty much an invalid.

Of course, I waited until the last possible minute to take care of it. That's just the way I roll. But thankfully, after two hours of waiting in court, I proved I was insured and they gave me back my license - and not a minute too soon! You see, some friends of mine were on their way with a UHaul. Those friends were Brian, Angel and Patrick.

Now, for the past month, Patrick has been keeping the bulk of his shit in a storage space in Manhattan. I've been keeping the bulk of my shit in my parent's garage on Long Island. Tomorrow morning, the movers are coming to Brian & Angel's apartment in Astoria, which means Patrick and I had to get our shit to said apartment. At noon today, Brian and Angel picked up the UHaul, drove to the storage space in Manhattan, and neatly arranged all of Patrick's stuff in the UHaul before making the 2 hours (with traffic) drive to Long Island. When they arrived at my parent's house, they opened the back of the truck to reveal this...

This was clearly not right. After rearranging Patrick's stuff, we packed my stuff in. Or, more accurately, Brian, Patrick and Angel moved my heavy shit, while I supervised.

After we were all packed up, I went inside to say goodbye to my sister Tina and the dogs, Frodo and Samwise. Samwise bit me. Frodo seemed disinterested. But Tina genuinely cared that I was going. So, thank you Tina.

After all of this moving, Brian, Angel and Patrick were famished. Brian pitched Wendy's, but Patrick had a craving for something different. Something powerful. Something quite popular on Long Island. Something like...

This past summer, after a big group field trip to Splish Splash water park, we all expressed an interest in eating at Friendly's on the drive home. Angel, however, pretended not to hear us because he wanted to take a nap, and since he was driving, we missed this opportunity. Patrick Cohen, however, was not going to let this opportunity pass to eat at this great East Coast chain before we left the East Coast.

The four of us piled into the Friendlys to find they now have this new, awesome deal where you can get a dinner, a drink and a SUNDAE for $9.99. This made us all happy. Very happy. This happy...

The moving company is coming tomorrow morning at 9AM. After that, we're heading to Cleveland. It's going to be a bumpy ride! Stay tuned to this blog. And come back tonight for a new post with photos from the goodbye party!

planning our route

2008-10-15T07:47:00.008-07:00

Yesterday, Brian, Angel, Patrick and I met in Astoria to determine what route we would be taking in our drive across country. Since the move is a mere week away, Brian and Angel's apartment was almost completely packed up. It kind of looked like the first episode of "We Need Girlfriends," right before Sarah dumps Tom.

Our first order of business was an important one. While scanning through Angel's apartment, we noticed his "Bad Boys II" poster was still hanging on his wall. We asked him if he was going to keep it and he said he was. "It's not going in the living room," Patrick and I told him. Angel refused to say whether or not it would go in the living room. We told him we would love to have "The Terminator" poster in the living room, but we were voting against "Bad Boys II."

After about twenty minutes of debate, we decided to put this conversation on hold to move on to more pressing topics. First of all, we have too much stuff. Between the four of us we have five television sets. We decided to leave a couple behind. It was painful.

Now, Google Maps gave us the following route as the most direct from New York to Los Angeles.

But seeing as how this is our first trip across country, we wanted to take a more scenic route. We all had different places we wanted to visit. Patrick was interested in Metropolis, Illinois and the World's Biggest Ball of Twine. Brian was interested in the Grand Canyon. I was a little curious about Des Moines, Iowa. And Angel? "I hope we see a tornado when we're going through the country, because I'm going to chase it!"

Now, since we've known Angel, he's had this fantasy about leading a team of scientists through the flatlands to chase a tornado. This all stems from the movie "Twister," which I think we all realized was bad in 1996, five minutes after we saw it. Angel never realized this. He was determined to be a tornado chaser, but he said, "For like a week," ignoring the years of study that goes into chasing weather.

We discussed the possibility of driving through the south, then thought about every horror movie we've ever seen where a group of twenty somethings go on a road trip, then end up being murdered by cannibal hillbillies. All of us thought getting murdered was a bad idea, except for Angel. Angel actually said, "I want to install a CB radio into my car so I can fuck with truckers, ala Joyride." By "Joyride" he means the Paul Walker/Steve Zahn fucking with truckers horror movie from 2001.

We decided this wasn't the best idea. Instead, we all wanted to see The Grand Canyon. You're all familiar with it, right? I don't have to post a picture of it, do i? Well, good. We also wanted to stop in lovely Las Vegas. When Patrick said we shouldn't visit a Vegas stripclub, this happened...

After an hour of discussion, we hammered out this route...

October 21st - New York to Cleveland, 471 miles

October 22nd - Cleveland to Chicago, 344 miles

October 23rd - Chicago to Omaha, 468 miles (Lunch in Des Moines!)

October 24th - Omaha to Colorado Springs, 610 miles

October 25th - Colorado Springs to Flagstaff, 698 miles

October 26th - Flagstaff to Grand Canyon, 74 miles, followed by Grand Canyon to Las Vegas, 203 miles

October 27th - Vegas to Los Angeles, 279 miles

So, if you happen to live near any of the areas we'll be driving through, and you see four schlubs that look like us in a rest stop or being murdered by angry hillbilly cannibal tornado truckers on the side of a road, come on over and say hello.

Ragtag Road Trip from Ragtag Productions on Vimeo.

big news from the ’taggers.

2008-10-03T08:48:00.011-07:00

Hello everyone,We've known you all for awhile now. You've been our support, our homebase, occasionally our extras, but most of all our friends. You helped us spread the word about "We Need Girlfriends" when it was a fledgling show still struggling to find an audience. From the first episode...

To the last episode...

You've always been there for us and the support has been INCREDIBLE and APPRECIATED by every single person involved in the show. We've loved reading your emails and your MySpace messages and meeting you at various events. We've loved how you've all stuck with us through the long, laborious process of bring a pilot to television.

So, now we'd like to include you in our next big endeavor.

The boys from Astoria are moving... to Los Angeles.

By "boys" I mean myself, Brian and Angel. Seen here...

As well as "Tom" himself, Mr. Patrick Cohen...

Now, this won't be a simple move. We're not taking the ol' ship your stuff and fly to LA route. No No. In the first place, between the four of us we have over a thousand DVDs that need to be tenderly transported. In the second place, where's the fun in flying?

So, on October 21st, the four of us leave New York to make the long drive across country to Los Angeles.

And the best part of all? We're documenting the whole thing in our brand new blog...

http://ragtagproductions.blogspot.com (this site)

Got that address?

Do yourself a favor, look at it again.

http://ragtagproductions.blogspot.com (right here)

Now bookmark it.

Starting October 21st we're going to be updating this baby with all sorts of photos, videos and blogs about our journey across country. We ask that you keep our spirits alive by leaving your glorious comments!

And, if you live somewhere between New York and Los Angeles and happen to see a couple of jerks in your hometown that look like us, come on up and say hello.

Remember...

http://ragtagproductions.blogspot.com (you're reading it right now)

We Blog.

2008-10-02T16:24:00.007-07:00

Welcome to the new site for Ragtag blogging brought to you by....well, Ragtag of course. Oh and Blogspot and Gmail. Shout out to them for making this all possible.

What can you expect from this new big budget Ragtag blog?

Expect many witty, sarcastic, and nostalgic posts from Steven Tsapelas. Thought-provoking no nonsense, no bullshit pieces from Brian Amyot. And exclusive videos and pictures from Ragtag's tech wiz, Angel Acevedo. In addition, you'll get up to date info on anything and everything that is Ragtag. Basically you're gonna get

So subscribe, become a fan, reader, peeping tom, whatever it is blog readers do and join us as we embark into the blogging world (officially). We promise seven flags of fun. Beat that Six Flags.

A.